#CWC15: Left armers right for Australia

Joy Chakravarty 01:58 31/03/2015
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  • High noon: The Australia team during a public felicitation in Melbourne yesterday.

    The debate on whether this was the best-ever World Cup will continue to rage for a considerable time in the future, but one thing is for certain – the ICC will have to make a few more changes to the playing conditions to make it more of a contest between the bat and the ball.

    For the 2015 edition, which ended with yet another one-sided final, won by Australia by seven wickets in Melbourne on Sunday night, the game’s governing body had the right ideas. But just because someone likes sweet, you cannot make it sickly sweet. It’s all right for the first couple of bites, but thereafter, the remaining portion will surely get rejected. Overkill never helps.

    And that’s what has happened with this World Cup. Obviously, a case can be made that the ball dominated the bat in the final and it did not turn out to be the most competitive match of the tournament, but that was also because New Zealand were not competitive in the match.

    A great stat in this case is the number of centuries made this year, and when the tournament was played in Australia in 1992. Only eight centuries were scored and the strike rate was 66.5 then. In this edition, there were 36 tons and two doubles, and the strike rate improved by nearly 50 per cent to 89.3.

    Both Martin Guptill (237* v West Indies) and Chris Gayle (215 v Zimbabwe) played blinding knocks with the highest quality of strokemaking, and yet the most unforgettable moment of the 49 matches was when Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz tested Australia’s Shane Watson with one of the most lethal spells of fast bowling in recent times. And that is what is needed as ICC moves forward to and plans for the 2019 event.

    The ICC has to rein in the size of the modern-day cricket bat, and they need to allow one more fielder outside the circle. Australia were the most deserving champions, but the story of this tournament will forever be the emergence of New Zealand as one of the most feared limited over sides in the world.

    They have been showing glimpses of developing into a ruthless side this past few months, and that transformation is finally complete under the ultra-aggressive leadership of Brendon McCullum.

    The champions owed it to their left-arm fast bowlers, the variety that proved to be the trump card for the two most successful teams in the tournament. If New Zealand had Trent Boult, Australia had Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner. In between them, the Aussies removed 37 opposition wickets.Mitchell Starc was named Player of the Tournament for Australia.

    India had a fantastic run in the tournament, but their mental block against Steve Smith and Australia was clearly evident in the semi-final loss. After an amazing sequence of seven matches, in which their bowling unit took all 70 wickets, they struggled against the team that had walloped them in all formats in the four-month long tour.

    A couple of highlights of the tournament for me were the ever-improving standard of fielding – there were some unbelievable catches and run-outs – and the fact that spinners still managed to hold sway in a batsman-dominated tournament. Daniel Vettori, Imran Tahir and Ravichandran Ashwin were just outstanding throughout the tournament.

    The World Cup once again proved to be the right stage for legends of the game to bid adieu – at least in the 50-over format. Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Misbah-ul Haq and Shahid Afridi’s decisions were well known, but Michael Clarke’s was a surprise.

    Brendon Taylor is quitting ODI for a very different reason, while Vettori and Aussie wicketkeeper Brad Haddin are expected to make their own announcements very soon.

    And one final word about the Associates members… except for Ireland, they may not have tested the Test-playing nations to the hilt, but they do add a unique flavor to the tournament and they do deserve the opportunity to play with the bigger teams.

    It’s ICC’s responsibility to make the World Cup event bigger – and that includes trying to increase the number of nations participating in it. Hopefully, they will make the right decision in this regard.

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