#360view: Australia depth won #CWC15 title

Joy Chakravarty 00:28 30/03/2015
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  • All-round quality: Australia's squad was both well-balanced and packed with quality.

    There are 15 very good reasons why Australia have won the 2015 World Cup displaying a standard of cricket that was far superior than any of the 13 other teams in the competition, including New Zealand, who beat them in the group stage before getting thrashed with clinical precision in the final yesterday.

    The reasons are: Michael Clarke, Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith…I am sure you get my drift. This was a squad of 15 highly-talented individuals, who became even better when they came together as a team of 11.

    Man-to-man, they towered well above the others. They played all 15 men in the squad in some match or the other, and towards the ending stretch, they had the luxury of not using players like George Bailey, Mitch Marsh and Pat Cummins.

    If you really have to insist and find a weak link, it was spinner Xavier Doherty, but then, he got opportunity in just one match and got hammered around the park by Sri Lanka.

    Otherwise, this is a team in which every player has the potential to win a match on the basis of his individual performance alone.

    The best example of this is Mitchell Johnson. Just when India seemed to have pulled back Australia significantly and making a match of it in the semi-finals, Johnson turned around the match – not with the ball, but with the bat coming in at No8. His nine-ball 29 effort proving crucial.

    Or look at how Starc almost single-handedly won the only match Australia lost – against New Zealand at Auckland. That was as special, and gutsy, a performance as any.

    I have got to highlight another name here, and how he played a major role in Australia’s win, not by contributing on the field, but by his maturity and understanding off it. That man is Bailey.

    Captain of the team in the first two group stage matches, Bailey graciously paved the way for Michael Clarke when the original captain became fit. There was not the slightest show of dissent, and it did not stop him from carrying on any job for the team as one of the bench players.

    If you ask any analyst, they would possibly say that the hallmark of any champion, or a champion team, is to rise to the occasion during the big moments, and seize the opportunity. This Australian team has been a master at that.

    Their fielding helped them do that. Some of the catches they have taken on the field have been breathtaking, and one just has to see the efforts of Glenn Maxwell in running out Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the semi-final and Tim Southee yesterday to appreciate how they create chances out of nothing.

    What’s also been impressive is the amount of physical and mental pressure that the Aussies have withstood during what has been a very long summer for them. It’s not been easy with the injuries of Clarke and Faulkner, and the entire tragic incident of Phil Hughes’ untimely death. The whole team was terribly affected, but they showed terrific resilience to rise above every adversity.

    The good thing about this group is while captain Clarke has announced his retirement from ODIs, there is no danger of the team disintegrating as most players are still young and will form the core of the team that will defend this title in 2019.

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