Champion stuff

There’s no such thing as a fairytale in sport, but it’s probably as close as it gets, Michael Clarke, holding aloft the World Cup, said on his last day as a one-day international cricketer. In its demolition of New Zealand in the final, his Australian squad also silenced the talk of India standing a better chance in the semifinal had they won the toss and batted first. The in-form Black Caps opted to do just that and were throttled. The Aussies have been just too good this season; the best team going into the tournament proved its billing. For a rugby-crazy country with a population of 44 lakh, the Kiwis’ flight was nothing less than a dream. On the ground, it fell way short in denying the four-time champions their fifth title.

The rules of the game may look heavily tilted in favour of the batsmen with routine 300-plus scores, but essentially are the same. Wickets win matches, Man of the Tournament Mitchell Starc is a case in point. If Pakistan’s up-down outing was marked by Wahab Riaz’s spell of the Cup against Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni credited the quickies with bringing his team back into the game after a disastrous pre-tournament series. It’s another matter that no Indian finds mention in the ICC World Cup XI. If Team India’s performance was sub-par in the one match that would justify their 2011 champions tag, the title of underperformers would go to England, hosts of the World Cup in 2019. It will see 10 teams participating against 14 this time; apart from the eight top-ranked teams, six associates will fight it out for two slots.

Back to no fairytales in sport, New Zealand have played seven World Cup semifinals but two captains wrote a different script in home conditions. Martin Crowe in 1992 and Brendon McCullum taking them a step closer this time. Sadly, Crowe, who’s battling a rare blood disease, says Melbourne’s final could be the last game he watches. For Indian fans, there’s plenty of cricket in store, including a chance to see champion stuff. Eleven members of Australia’s World Cup squad will be in action in IPL soon.