Going into the World Cup, India were accused of having a poor bowling attack, insipid captaincy and underwhelming openers. Nobody gave them a chance of getting past the quarters, let alone defending the title. On Thursday night, the Indian team didn’t trip, they ran into the one wall that they knew they couldn’t leap over or smash through, the one team they had failed to beat all through the summer.
All the through the tournament, apart from the semi-final, it almost felt as though India were playing in a dreamland. The bowlers performed exceedingly well, picking up all 70 wickets in seven games until they faced the might of Australia in the semis. One must admit that India exceeded expectations; the bowlers in particular. What stood out this time was the attacking intent of the bowlers. Even when Steve Smith and Aaron Finch were blazing away, India were more intent on picking up wickets rather than trying to save runs. It eventually salvaged the situation somewhat and restricted the Aussies to 328, whereas at the one stage it looked like they were heading towards 400. There are many such instances in this World Cup from which the Indians can take heart from and certainly the future appears bright for Indian cricket.
Well done to all the Indian team & fans for making this World Cup special. Unfortunately MS & the boys were outplayed by the Aussies tonite
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 26, 2015
The belief that India raise their game in ICC events once again proved to be true. Although there was pressure to perform, the general view was that India did not have enough strength and firepower to challenge for the title. Yes, India did not defend their title, but honestly, their performance was tremendous as a whole. India can take a lot of positives from the World Cup, like the emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin as a bowler who was top class in alien conditions not assisting spin. His performance played quite a crucial role in India reaching this far as he has picked wickets through the middle overs to put pressure on the opposition after the initial burst by the fast bowlers. Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav consistently clocked 140 kmh, which is considered a rare commodity smongst Indian fast bowlers. Not only did they bowl fast, they also bowled with purpose and it certainly paid rich dividends.
The much vaunted and strong batting line-up performed as a group this time around. It certainly was not a one man show and every batsman performed in one game or another. They failed to do well in the semis, though, but they can be proud of the way they bailed out from precarious situations one more than one occasion.
MS Dhoni remained his bullish self and kept his cards close to his chest all through the World Cup. Even in the presser after the game against Australia, he brought to the fore his logical and practical way of looking at things. Dhoni stated: “Well, it’s something that doesn’t really belong to anyone,” he said. “We definitely took it from someone, so somebody took it from us. It’s as simple as that. You know, the best team takes it for four years and then everybody gets their own plans ready, depending on the conditions, and they challenge the one that has the Cup.”
Although rumours were ubiquitous that this could be his last tournament in an Indian shirt and he will retire, he put the speculations to bed, bringing about a sigh of relief for Indian fans all across the globe.
“I’m not sure about it,” Dhoni said, when asked if he would play another World Cup. “I’m 33, I’m still running, I’m still fit, but I’ll have a year’s time, maybe close to next year, during the T20 World Cup will be the time I would like to decide whether I’ll continue till the 2019 World Cup or not.”
If you are realistic, you will say India had as good a World Cup as they could have had.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 26, 2015
This Indian team has done every Indian fan proud. These guys can certainly walk out with their heads held high. They have done no damage whatsoever to their reputation and actually enhanced it significantly. To put things into perspective, India faced a gargantuan task of beating Australia in the semis in their own backyard. This was a difficult task in itself, and after the toss went Australia’s way there was a very bleak chance that India could overcome the Australian juggernaut. It wasn’t surprising that India fell short yesterday, but what every Indian fan will be surprised about, pleasantly, is the way they have done this tournament, clearly paving way for what looks like a very bright future.
