cup of good hope

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cup-of-good-hope 1/94
WINNINGEST TEAM ON THE BIG STAGE Some luck, yes, but it was a lot of pluck and
more skill that made Australia all-conquering
at the World Cup
Shamya Dasgupta | 30
RISE OF THE ASIAN ASSOCIATES Afghanistan and UAE have made a quick
climb through the ranks, but can they make
the transformation from Associates to
champions as successfully as Sri Lanka?
Karthik Lakshmanan | 41
MILLIONDOLLAR MIDDLEAGER From modest beginnings in 1975, cricket’s
showpiece event is now attracting the moolah
by the millions
Manoj Narayan | 53
FINAL HURRAHS AND FOND FAREWELLS With several players expected to hang up their
boots after World Cup 2015, the signs of a
new world order in the next four-year cycle are
already apparent
game strives for relevance, the
tournament gives the game
context and promises glory
FALL OF THE TITANS By mid-1980s, West Indies’ fast-bowling arsenal
kept them in the hunt but their
batsmen were a byword for inconsistency
Dileep Premachandran | 23
THE DEVILS, THE
of contrast, two very different paths to the same
celebratory end
Edited by: Karunya Keshav Designed by: Ashish Mohanty
All pictures published as part of Cup of Good Hope courtesy of Getty Images and
Wisden India Archive
LIGHTS, COLOUR, ACTION! The last time the World Cup was
in Australia and New Zealand, it
signalled the dawn of cricketainment.
Cricket as we knew it had changed
Disha Shetty | 71
A round-up of all the rule changes for
World Cup 2015 that aim to make the
game more attractive to fans
Himanish Bhattacharjee | 78
ON THE ROAD Stunning harbours, picturesque cityscapes, plentiful parks, friendly people, and
cricket history peeking out at you from the most unexpected corners - a teaser
of what to see and do in Australia and New Zealand
Arundhati Sridhar | 84
8/9/2019 Cup of Good Hope
ODI HE WINNER A WORLD CUP
At a time when the 50-over game strives for relevance, the tournament gives the game
context and promises glory
Pakistan v Australia in UAE: 0-3 (3)
India v West Indies in India: 2-1 (5)
New Zealand v South Africa in New Zealand:
0-2 (3)
Bangladesh v Zimbabwe in Bangladesh:
5-0 (5)
Pakistan v New Zealand in UAE: 2-3 (5)
New Zealand v Sri Lanka in New Zealand:
4-2 (7)
4-1 (5)
2-0 (2)
International schedule
Zealand-Pakistan two-
before the World Cup. That’s 12 bilateral
series/tri-series, and these are the ones
only involving the Test-playing nations.
two ODIs in Australia, while Afghanistan,
Ireland and Scotland were involved in a
triangular tournament in Dubai.
these matches, let alone the results. Yes,
perhaps West Indies’ tour of India, but
that only because the Caribbean team
ditched the tour midway through due to a
pay fallout between the cricket board and the players. But beyond that, not many of
these matches or series ring more than a
faint bell.
and a hard place. The very fact that so many
rule changes have been made to the 50- over format is alone indicative of the need
to keep the product alive and interesting
in an era when Twenty20 cricket has
graduated from upstart to a format that
is easily the most widely followed, and
when Test cricket, for all the supposed
lack of patronage, continues to hold its
own because the players pay it at least lip
service and traditionalists still abound.

the International Cricket Council will try
to tell us that all three of its international
products are robust and self-sustaining, is
unsurprisingly the most natural casualty
in this scenario. A seven-hour game with a
45-minute break thrown in would appear
neither here nor there. You could squeeze
in two Twenty20 games in that duration.
Compared to the 20-over slam-bang, thrill-
a-nanosecond circus, the 50-over game
is almost pedestrian. There is a touch of
predictability to the proceedings – tee off
at the beginning, consolidate in the middle
CLASSIC SIX
makes one game no different from another,
one series eerily similar to the previous or
the next one.
new ball at each end. Which is why, only
one ve-over block of powerplay after
the mandatory rst ten. Which is why,
during the 35 non-powerplay overs, only
four elders are allowed to patrol the vast
expanse of the outeld. All designed to take
the element of predictability away from the
game, to retain interest all the way through
an innings, to dissipate the boredom
and ennui of the middle overs. Have they
worked? Hard to say from a spectator
and interest perspective, though various
captains have voiced their displeasure at
the increasing imbalance between bat and
ball. But that’s another topic altogether.
One of the reasons why we struggle to
remember the aforementioned 12 events
is a distinct lack of context. These are
matches, series, tournaments that have become no more than a formality. Cricket
boards have obligations towards their
broadcast partners and other sponsors,
so visibility is necessary. A 50-over game
allows broadcasters the opportunity to air
advertisements during almost 100 breaks
between overs, not to mention every time
a wicket falls or the players adjourn for
a drinks interval. Even when a player is
receiving treatment for injury – and this
is particularly unique to the subcontinent
There are far too many ODIs floating around to keep track of
what is happening where. The
50-over game is almost entirely
dependent on the World Cup,
therefore, to retain its sustainability.
ONE FOR FANS
Cricket’s most
drink or insurance. Oh well, cricket has
long metamorphosed into a commercial
beast.
the lack of it. Australia beating Pakistan
in the UAE or New Zealand crushing Sri
Lanka in their own backyard are all no more
than sideshows. There are so many ODIs
oating around the cricketing stratosphere that it is impossible to keep track of what
is happening where, no matter how ardent
and committed a cricket fan you are. The
authorities will tell us that of course, every
ODI has context because unlike a Test
series, ratings points are updated after
every single 50-over international game. All well, to a point. But then you have
a scenario where the ranking changes
hands sometimes three times a week,
and occasionally, a team that is not even
involved in the action briey becomes No.
1 because someone has lost and someone
else has won. Context? Really?

dependent on the World Cup, therefore, to
retain its sustainability. The ODIs are ne
from a commercial and sometimes from a
spectator-at-the-ground interest point of
are nearly 20 international centres, each
venue gets no more than one ODI a year
– but it is debatable how seriously players
approach these matches. This is not to
suggest that they don’t want to win every
match they play, but look at Sri Lanka’s
approach when they were pushed in as
late replacements for the runaway West Indies in India. Or, more recently, India’s
approach in the tri-series in Australia when
they were so concerned about ironing out
kinks and arriving at combinations for the
World Cup that victory was no more than
a bonus.
entity altogether. Australia are the current
No. 1 and India are No. 2, but who is the
world champion? Do we even care to nd
out who Nos. 3 and 4 are in the ICC ODI
It has a prestigious crown and
oodles of prize money at the end of
it, but more than anything, it comeswith a tag, a label, a prefix and a
suffix that span four whole years.
Not just any prefix or suffix. World
Cup winners.
ratings? No sir, it is about who is the World
Cup winner. Every cricket enthusiast
around the globe – and there are many,
even if that number is miniscule compared
to say football or tennis fans – knows
that India are the defending World Cup
champions. That Australia won the title
immediately before that, in 2007. As they
did in 2003. And in 1999. That West Indies
won the rst two World Cups, in 1975 and
1979. That Kapil Dev inspired India to an
extraordinary, against-all-odds triumph
all the way in 1987, Imran Khan’s soldiers
scripted a remarkable comeback in 1992
and that Arjuna Ranatunga’s brave troops
turned the cricketing order upside down
one emotional March night in Lahore in
1996.
of the World Cup – it has context. It has
a prestigious crown and oodles of prize
money at the end of it, but more than
anything, it comes with a tag, a label, a
prex and a sufx that span four whole
years. Not just any prex or sufx. World
Cup winners. World champions. Now,
that’s what people play sport for. To be the
best, and to be remembered and recognised
and acknowledged as the best. The other
series and tournaments will never provide
THE BEST
People play
needs the World Cup – as its ag-bearer,
as the mother of all ODI tournaments, as
the showpiece event that brings the top
nations all together under one common
platform, battling each other and elements
alien to most but the hosts/co-hosts for
seven weeks, all for the winner’s medal
and a slice of glory that, no matter what,
history will always reect and remember.
The Champions Trophy is another
tournament that had the potential to
augment the World Cup’s battle to further
the cause of the 50-over game, but when
teams such as the United States of
America started to be involved in a cricket
tournament that goes by the name of the Champions Trophy, surely something is
amiss? In its collective wisdom, the ICC
decided that the Champions Trophy was
going nowhere, especially with the World
T20, the biennial bash, a far more lucrative
and viable proposition. The 2013 edition in
England was to have been the last of the
Champions Trophies. It took the success
of that same event in 2013 – ah, but India’s
surge to the title had nothing to do with
it – for the ICC to revisit its decision to
scrap that tournament. But that could not
camouage the fact that not even cricket’s
apex body believed the Champions Trophy
was doing anything to promote the cause
of the 50-over game.
World Cup bearing the onerous task of
carrying the future of the 50-over game
at the international level on its broad but
overburdened shoulders. Most World Cups
are guaranteed to be hits, even cricket World Cups that are only contested by
14 teams this time and ten from the next
edition onwards. That said, sometimes,
it is possible to make a hash of even a
tournament as popular as the World
Cup – like in the Caribbean in 2007, a
tournament that many of its billion critics tell us is still going on somewhere in those
lovely islands.
glamorous and prestigious multi-team
Australia and New Zealand will ensure
that. Despite the insular nature of these
islands, tickets have sold like hot cakes,
public interest is peaking to a nicety. Fifty-
over cricket will be in the forefront for seven
weeks, from February 14 to March 29,
2015. After that? Wait for 2019, I suspect.
It was the opening round of the inaugural World Cup
in England and one-day cricket was sll new. On a
warm, sunny day at Lord’s, England’s Dennis Amiss, the
opener, enthralled a full house with an excing 137
o 147 balls. With half-centuries from Keith Fletcher
and Chris Old, England posted a daunng 334 for 4 in
60 overs, the highest one-day total back then. Indian
fans, hopeful of a spirited ghtback, were in for a rude
shock when Sunil Gavaskar opened India’s innings in
Test-match mode. He bizarrely baed through 60 overs,
but scored only 36 runs in an unthinkable 174 balls. The
Wisden Almanack reported that aer the match the
Indian team claimed Gavaskar thought England’s score
was beyond reach and so decided to get some pracce.
India crawled to 132 for 3 and lost by 202 runs.
Gary Gilmour: 6-14 o 12 overs and 28* o 28
balls v Australia, Leeds. Match Impact: 18.08
The second-highest impact performance in the
history of ODI cricket and the highest impact
performance in World Cups came in the rst
seminal of the 1975 World Cup. In only his third
ODI, Gary Gilmour picked up six top/middle-order
English wickets and had a high Pressure-Building
Impact (taking wickets in quick succession to build
pressure) as he reduced Australia from 2 for 0 to
36 for 6. His job was not nished though: England,
chasing 94, were 39 for 6 when Gilmour came out
to bat and smacked an unbeaten 28 o 28 balls.
Not only did he have a high Runs Tally (proporon
of runs scored), Pressure and Chasing Impact, but
he also had an exceponal Strike Rate Impact,
given the low and slow scoring nature of the
match.
Favorites West Indies took on Australia in a
60-overs-a-side game, and were in some trouble
at 50 for 3 before a classic from Clive Lloyd, their
captain, took them to 291 for 8. Lloyd, assisted
by Rohan Kanhai (55), smashed 102 in 85 balls,
the knock including 12 fours and two sixes.
The Australians threatened, but their innings
was marked by run outs, ve in all, three of
them orchestrated by Vivian Richards. The nal
pair of Je Thompson and Dennis Lillee got their
team to within 18 runs of victory, but the day
would belong to Lloyd and his men.
Didn’t realise I bowled the first
World Cup ball M A D A N L A L
I came to know only later that I’d bowled the rst ball
of the World Cup in 1975. I had no clue at that me.
Going into the 1975 World Cup, we didn’t have much
idea about one-day cricket. We were not used to the
format, so the massive 202-run loss to England in the
opening match was not too much of a setback. There
were not many One-Day Internaonal tournaments
in India, so we didn’t have that sort of experience of
playing at a world stage. Only aer the 1975 World Cup
did we start playing more ODIs.
Since we were not at all familiar with the format or the
rules, the biggest challenge for us was to do well. We
started improving somewhat only aer the rst World
Cup, once we started playing against the top naons.
Both 1975 and 1979 edions were not the World Cups
to remember because we didn’t do well at all.
As told to Disha Shey
1979 We still had a Test mindset
The simple game, a shock upset and an embarrassing
encounter with Len Huon
A U N S H U M A N G A E K W A D
Playing cricket in England, parcularly in the summer, is
a delighul experience. The pace of life, the greenery,
the crisp air, the moist wickets and everything that
comes along with it can be both a thrill and a challenge. Having experienced things rst hand in 1975, I was
personally keyed up for the 1979 World Cup. But,
somehow, as a team, we didn’t quite understand its
importance.

Aer our failure in 1975, India made a conscious eort,
but not a professional one, to get beer. The Packer
revoluon had just begun, but we sll had a Test match
mindset and there was not much planning that went
into our campaign. For us, one-day cricket meant just
bang out the 60 overs, as it was then, and not geng
bowled out. That perhaps explains our record in the
rst two edions.

My rst memory of the 1979 edion is the handbook
Brief scores:
(Clive Lloyd 102, Rohan Kanhai 55, Keith Boyce
34, Bernard Julien 26 n.o.; Gary Gilmour 5-48, Je
Thomson 2-44) beat Australia 274 in 58.4 overs (Ian
Chappell 62, Alan Turner 40, Doug Walters 35, Ross
Edwards 28; Keith Boyce 4-50) by 17 runs.
MoM: Clive Lloyd
14
we were given upon landing. It was a ny booklet of
around 15 pages. The tournament rules were simple
– no elaborate security arrangements, and not much
restricon in terms of media commitments like there is
today because there were just a handful of journalists.
We did not have briengs on an-corrupon and dope
tests either. In that sense, the cricket was pure and
unadulterated.
Another thing about those days was, all of us shared
rooms and that fostered team spirit. But we were also
scared to go out or break team rules.
There was also plenty of fun we had as a team.
Travelling by bus, in trains, meeng local Indian families
who were gracious enough to host us, mingling freely
with friends without having to worry about cameras or
security restricons was fun.

Coming back to the cricket, we knew it wouldn’t be a
walk in the park for us. Although we lost to West Indies
and New Zealand, we were condent of beang Sri
Lanka. They were the minnows and our body language
was that of a side who had beaten them even before
we stepped onto the eld. But what happened there
was quite shocking.
I sll remember Venkat (S Venkataraghavan), who was
our captain, coming back into the dressing room and
not nding any of us there. He was furious, and sensing
that, we all hid in the bathroom and pretended to be
having a shower. It was only aer a while did we all
come out. That loss was deang.

an embarrassing one, would be the one in 1975. We
were in the long room at Lord’s for a cocktail and dinner
party. Karsan Ghavri and I were smoking pipes and
having a quiet drink when an elderly gentleman walked

Both of us put on a fake accent and started talking to
him like we would to a friend, not knowing who he was.
Karsan was from Rajkot, I was from Baroda, so you can
imagine how the Gujara-nged Brish accent we tried
to put up must have been!
Aer about half an hour, he introduced himself to us
as Len Huon. We were shell shocked and immediately
put down our drinks and went looking for him in the
long room. He was gone. Sir Len Huon!

It didn’t dawn upon us then. But that is just one of
several memories I associate with England and Cricket
World Cups.
Aunshuman Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for
India, and was part of the squads for the 1975 and 1979
World Cups.
After our failure in 1975, we
made a conscious effort, but not
a professional one, to get better.
For us, one-day cricket meant just
batting out the 60 overs, as it was
then, and not getting bowled out.
That perhaps explains our record in
the first two editions.
Beaten by New Zealand in their opener by nine wickets
and with the match against West Indies called o,
Sri Lanka went into their nal group game against
India missing their injured captain and with nobody
expecng a great contest.
Yet, they took apart a toothless Indian aack. A 96-run
stand for the second wicket between Sunil Wemuny
(67) and Roy Dias (50) o 25 overs was followed by a
robust half-century from Duleep Mendis (64). Sudath
Pasqual, the 18-year-old, added 52 o seven overs with
Mendis to take Sri Lanka to 238 for 5 in 60 overs.
India had to wait unl Monday to begin their chase,
owing to a late start on Saturday. Sunil Gavaskar and
Aunshuman Gaekwad began strongly with a 60-run
stand, but Gundappa Viswanath’s run-out on 22
sparked a urry of wickets. Somachandra de Silva
dismissed Dilip Vengsarkar, Brijesh Patel and Mohinder
Amarnath, before Tony Opatha swept through the
Indian tail to give Sri Lanka a shock 47-run victory.
Final: West Indies v England
With West Indies, the defending champions, at
99 for 4, it seemed England had the iniave
at Lord’s. But that was before Vivian Richards
(138 from 157 balls) and Collis King (86 from 66
balls) got together not just to steady the ship,
but to steer it full speed ahead. Their 139-run
partnership was instrumental in a 286 for 9 total.
The English defense began well in Mike Brearley
(64) and Geo Boyco (57), but the runs came too
slowly. And with the dismissal of Graham Gooch
at 183 for 3 came an almighty collapse as eight
wickets fell for just 11 runs, giving West Indies
world supremacy for the second me in a row.
Joel Garner was the chief destroyer, taking ve
wickets, and was twice on a hat-trick.
Brief scores: Final, 1979
(Vivian Richards 138, Collis King 86; Phil Edmonds
2-40, Ian Botham 2-44) beat England 194 in 51 overs (Mike Brearley 64, Geo Boyco 57, Graham
Gooch 32; Joel Garner 5-38, Colin Cro 3-32) by
92 runs. MoM: Vivian Richards
Viv Richards: 138* o 157 balls and 0-35 o 10
overs v England. Match Impact: 9.36
In the 1979 nal, West Indies had been reduced
to 99 for 4 against England when Collis King
joined Viv Richards at the crease. King began
the onslaught, smashing 86 o 66 in a 139-run
partnership, but it was Richards who controlled
the innings. He stabilised the innings before
going on the rampage. He had a high Runs
Tally (proporon of runs scored), Pressure and
Partnership-Building Impact. In England’s chase
of 287, they fell short by 92 runs. Richards
chipped in there too, conceding only 35 o his
ten overs (high Economy Impact). This was also a
tournament-dening performance.
17
WEAKNESSES The Indian bowling has come under the scanner for quite some time now, their frailties exposed after a long, fruitless tour of Australia just before the World Cup. With no respite in sight, Dhoni
will have plenty of headaches as the tournament presses on. Primarily picked for their abilityto bowl at over 140 clicks, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami have proved expensive, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s ability when there is no swing on offer will be tested. With 76 ODIs under his belt, Ishant Sharma was the most experienced seamer and expected to lead the attack, but with injury ruling him out and Mohit Sharma drafted in his place before the warm-up games, it will only add to Dhoni’s concerns.
India have long wished for a genuine seam bowling allrounder, which Stuart Binny offers. But he’s still a rookie at the top level, as is Axar Patel, which means Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin will have their task cut out in the spin department. But the clear lack of experience could be a major talking point.
Morale too will be low after failing to win a single game in the tri-series with Australia and Eng- land, and in the Tests that preceded it.
WORLD CUP HISTORY With just a solitary win against East Africa across two editions in 1975 and 1979, India caught the world by surprise as they denied West Indies a third title. While memories of Kapil Dev with the trophy on the Lord’s balcony is an iconic image, Dhoni’s winning six in 2011 is also the stuff of
legend, coming as it did after the low of 2007.Before that, India did fairly well by reaching the seminal in 1987 and 1996, while they nished runners-up to Australia in 2003.
FIXTURES
the last few years they have faced all kinds
of situations in limited-overs cricket and
have shown they are capable of coming out
successfully from all of them. That’s why
I say we have a good chance to win this World Cup. A big reason for my belief is
our Champions Trophy victory in England.
We played in very foreign conditions that
didn’t suit the side and yet we played so
well that we didn’t lose a single match. That
shows that the side is used to winning and
that’s really exciting.”
- Duncan Fletcher, coach FEB 15: PAKISTAN, ADELAIDE FEB 22: SOUTH AFRICA, MELBOURNE
FEB 28: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, PERTH MARCH 6: WEST INDIES, PERTH MARCH 10: IRELAND, HAMILTON MARCH 14: ZIMBABWE, AUCKLAND
- Shashank Kishore
HE DEVILS, HE DAREDEVILS
1983 and 2011 – campaigns of contrast, two very different paths to the same
celebratory end
W hen Kapil Dev led
his team out at the
1983 World Cup in
gment of the imagination in India. The
Berlin Wall continued to stand between the
Germanys, few outside of the Germanys
had heard of Boris Becker, Michael Jackson
was yet to burst into Grammy folklore and
all Sachin Tendulkar had were stars in his
eyes and dreams in his heart.
India entered the 1983 World Cup as the
rankest of rank outsiders – 66-1 outsiders,
to be precise. In two previous World Cups,
they had just one win to show from six
matches, the one against East Africa in
1975. Four years on, they were put in
their place even by Sri Lanka, then only
an Associate member still some way short
of Test status. No one believed India would
even be competitive, let alone make a
serious pitch for top honours.
How things had changed by the time the
2011 edition came a-calling! Tendulkar
had gone from aspiring India cricketer to
from no-hopers to perennial favourites.
The contrast couldn’t have been starker.
In 1983, Indian fans would have happily
settled for a victory here, a close defeat
there; in 2011, anything less than
Mahendra Singh Dhoni holding the cup
aloft at the Wankhede Stadium would
have been construed a gross, abject, total
failure.
class of ’83, the band of ’11. Total underdogs,
overwhelmingly fancied. Both champions,
both stirring journeys – one chronicled
sketchily for obvious reasons, the other an
emotional roller coaster lived out not just
by the 15 men constituting the team but
a billion fans that drove the team forward
collectively, inexorably, towards the tryst
with ultimate glory.
28-YEAR WA
From rank
20
itself. In those days, there was no fancy support staff, no technological support, no
database and mind gurus and workload
management. It was the team, and PR Man
Singh – manager, coach, facilitator, all
rolled into one. There was no team room –
‘meetings’ were held in the room of either
the captain or the manager, both of whom
had larger settlements than the rest of the
players who were bunched two to a room.
I remember Man Singh talking about one
memorable team meeting in Kapil’s room,
packed to the rafters even before Sunil
Gavaskar walked in. The great opener sat
on the seat of the toilet during the length
of the meeting! And oh, forget about wives
and girlfriends on tour.
with some momentum. In Berbice a few
weeks previously, they had registered their
rst away win over West Indies, riding on
Gavaskar’s 90. It was the spur the side
needed; the rest of the world focussed on which of Australia or England or Pakistan
would challenge the World Cup hegemony
of Clive Lloyd’s men. India quietly worked
their way through the draw, beating West
Indies in their opening game on the back
of a solid innings from Yashpal Sharma to

with obstacles. Crushed by Australia the
rst time around – the four teams in each
group met each other twice with the top
two making the semis – they needed to
defeat David Hookes’s men in their nal
group tie to make the last four. They did,
fairly easily, but before that match, the
team and its dedicated followers tracking
their progress on radio died a million
HE PIONEERS
ind gurus.
Wells, Kapil hauling them from the mess
of 9 for 4 and 17 for 5 with the single-most
inuential knock in the history of the World
Cup – 175*, sadly unrecorded for posterity
because the BBC was on strike.

You felt that this was a run too good to be
true. England, the mother nation, the host
nation, in the semis surely a bridge too
far? Of course not. By then, Doordarshan had woken up to the possibilities. So we
huddled in front of our old black and
white Dyanora set, waiting for the bubble
to burst, but eventually rejoicing in the
urry of boundaries with which Sandeep
Patil drove Bob Willis and England to their
knees.
183 all out. There we go. Awesome run,
outstanding run, but not enough. Nearly
not enough. Not with Viv, Smokin’ Joe, in
the mood. Then Madan Lal banged one in,
Richards pulled, Kapil ran and ran and
ran, and held on to a sensational catch.
Kaps, you beauty! One tremendous nal
push from the bowlers with Mohinder
Amarnath, soft and gentle and sleepy,
trapping Michael Holding leg before, all
hell breaks loose. Champions of the world.
Who would have thunk?
Twenty-eight years on, the script was
written out beautifully. Tendulkar’s last World Cup – this one is for you, Master.
The Master himself had a great World Cup –
centuries against South Africa and England
– but no one could best Yuvraj Singh. India
meandered through the league phase, then
sprang to life in the knockouts. Australia
dethroned in a tense quarternal, Pakistan conquered in a tenser semi. Wankhede and
Sri Lanka. Mahela Jayawardene magical.
Then enter Dhoni. Out of sorts with the
bat, walking out ahead of the aming hot
Yuvi, a massive gamble but one designed
to negate Malinga and Murali. Worked out
quite beautifully. Gautam Gambhir was
the ice, Dhoni the raging, unputoutable
re. Kulasekara deposited into orbit over
long-on. Twirling bat, Sachin on shoulders,
victory lap, the tri-colour proud and ying
high. It was the stuff of dreams, sending
Then Madan Lal banged one in,
Richards pulled, Kapil ran and ran and ran, and held on to a sensational
catch. Kaps, you beauty!
22
the nation on an adrenaline rush that not even the immediate spoiler in the form of
IPL 4 could staunch.
that bound 1983 and 2011. No, not
Krishnamachari Srikkanth, dashing opener
Multiple allrounders. Seaming ones in 1983
that exploited the conditions in England
beautifully. Amarnath, Madan, Roger
expert, Balwinder Sandhu. Spinning ones
in 2011, making the most of the purchase
the subcontinent offered them. Yuvraj at
the top of the list. Sehwag. Raina. Pathan,
Yusuf. And specialists Harbhajan, Ashwin
and Chawla. With Zaheer the battering
ram, reverse swing and all, producing a
wicket every time India desperately needed
one. The devourer of left-hand batsmen.
Andrew Strauss in Bangalore. Devon Smith
in Chennai. Mike Hussey in Ahmedabad.
Upul Tharanga in the nal.
India were a naturally athletic elding
unit in 1983. A jog here, a run there, the
occasional trot from the ground to the
hotel. But no trainer to monitor BMI (body
mass index, apparently) or some such. No
physio to monitor injuries, no masseur to untighten knots. In 2011, India had worked
towards becoming a fantastic elding side.
Scientic. Professional. Clinical. Different
ways then to skin a cat, each one as effective
as the other. The Devils, the Daredevils.
There was a common thread that
bound 1983 and 2011. No, not
Srikkanth; it was the multiple allrounders India possessed.
YUVRAJ
INGH
uccess.
FALL OF HE IANS
By mid-1980s, West Indies’ fast-bowling arsenal kept them in the hunt but their
batsmen were a byword for inconsistency
D I L E E P P R E M A C H A N D R A N
I n the rst three World Cups, West
Indies lost just two games, both of
them to India in 1983. In the last
three, they have won just that
many games against established
grace has been.
cricket history of our time will probably
identify the mid-1990s, and specically
Australia’s tour of the Caribbean in 1995,
as the time when the game’s one-time
masters were knocked off their perch.
That may be true as far as Test cricket
is concerned, but in the 50-over format,
the cracks had become apparent nearly a
decade earlier.
seen as an aberration. They were not.
In March 1985, Pakistan comfortably
defeated them in the seminals of the
World Championship of Cricket. Mohsin
Khan may have toiled 93 balls for his 23,
but there was serenity to the manner in
(42 not out) eased past the target. The
West Indies total of 159 wasn’t the result
of devastating new-ball spells from Imran
Khan and Wasim Akram either. It was the
far less threatening duo of Tahir Naqqash
(3 for 23) and Mudassar Nazar (5 for 28)
that did the damage.
A year later, it was England, and not
West Indies, that won the Perth Challenge. On their day, the fast-bowling arsenal still
made West Indies a fearsome proposition
– Sri Lanka were bowled out for 55, with
Courtney Walsh taking 5 for 1, in a Sharjah
tournament a year before the 1987 World
Cup – but the batsmen had become a
byword for inconsistency, especially on slow and low surfaces.
The black-and-white World Cup histories
often cite Walsh’s refusal to run out Saleem
Jaffar in 1987 – who had backed up too
far – as the moment when the team’s
fortunes changed. Again, there’s a bit of
urban legend at work there. West Indies
had already lost their opening game of the
tournament to England and were a vastly
inferior team to the one that had lost to
India four years previously.
Gone were Joel Garner and Michael Holding, who still command a place in a
list of the ve highest impact bowlers to
play ODIs for West Indies. A third, Malcolm
Marshall, had opted to give the tournament
a miss. The two other men who round off
that all-time top ve, Curtly Ambrose and
Ian Bishop, would make their debuts only a year later.
Walsh, as skilled as he was, was no
Garner in the slog overs. In Gujranwala,
England, with four wickets in hand, had
needed 91 from the last ten overs to win.
With Allan Lamb in splendid form, that was
whittled down to 34 off three overs, still a
considerable ask. Walsh bowled overs 48
and 50. Patrick Patterson had conceded
just ve off the penultimate over, but with
Walsh giving away a whopping 31 in nine
TOP 5 IMPACT BOWLERS FOR
WEST INDIES IN ODIs Joel Garner 2.95
Michael Holding 2.62
Curtly Ambrose 2.41
Malcolm Marshall 2.03
Ian Bishop 1.95
25
STRENGTHS If the batting arsenal that West Indies possess res, they could well have a great time. While Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith are more than capable of giving the team a ying start, Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo know how to build the innings.
WEAKNESSES Sunil Narine’s withdrawal came as a huge blow for the West Indies. While they would miss his wicket- taking ability, he would have been a huge factor in curbing the run rate in the middle and death overs as well. While Andre Russell has shown glimpses
of brilliance – with the added advantage of being familiar with local conditions thanks to a stint in the Big Bash League – the bowling doesn’t quite inspire fear. West Indies are of course going to miss quality allrounders such as Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, who were left out of the squad following a turbulent few months following the team’s aborted tour of India late last year. Jason Holder’s lack of experience as captain may hamper their chances too.
WATCH OUT FOR Chris Gayle. A thorough entertainer, West Indies depend on him to give them the much-needed impetus at the top. He can single-handedly change the course of a game, but can as easily throw away his wicket. His last hundred – his 21st in the format – came 17 games ago, and his team would be hoping he can take his T20 form into the 50-over game.
WORLD CUP HISTORY Champions in 1975 and 1979, and nalists in 1983, West Indies have been the major players in the World Cup memories of many fans. From Clive Lloyd’s stunning century in that rst nal, to the magic of Joel Garner and Viv Richards, it’s an
illustrious history the team carries into any World Cup. Unfortunately, theirs is now a team in decline. Lloyd, now chief selector, however, has backed the squad, saying they were chosen with an eye on the future.
WEST INDIES POOL B
FIXTURES
“I am disappointed that we won’t have as strong a team in the 50-over format without Pollard
and Bravo. That’s really a big blow for us to lose two key players. It is a ridiculous selectionfrom my point of view. I don’t know where our cricket is headed. It’s really sad. It really hurt..”
- Chris Gayle
FEB 16: IRELAND, NELSON FEB 21: PAKISTAN, CHRISTCHURCH FEB 24: ZIMBABWE, CANBERRA FEB 27: SOUTH AFRICA, SYDNEY MARCH 6: INDIA, PERTH MARCH 15: UAE, NAPIER
SQUAD
Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Andre
Russell, Darren Sammy, Jonathan
Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn.
the target.
culpable against Pakistan. Again, 14 were
needed from the last six balls, with the
nal pair of Abdul Qadir and Jaffar at the
crease. This time, Walsh’s sequence went
1-1-2-6-2-2. The six that Qadir hit was no
cow-corner cleave either. It went straight
back over Walsh’s head.
By the time West Indies beat Pakistan in
their nal match, they had already been
eliminated. Their only other victories were
against Sri Lanka, who were still half
a decade away from becoming a force.
England won their second encounter by 34
runs, highlighting a real vulnerability in
the lower middle order.
Bowlers who were still as good as any
in the game kept them in the hunt, but
the batsmen failed repeatedly when
challenged. Against South Africa – a match
that deserves to be remembered if only for Adrian Kuiper’s jaw-dropping slog-swept
six off Ambrose – they were skittled for
136 in response to 200. Then, with a place
in the last four beckoning, they restricted
a strong Australian line-up to 216 at the
MCG. The response was a pitiful 159, with
only Brian Lara (70 off 97 balls) crossing
15.
the seminal in 1996, and bossed it for
BRIAN LARA
he 1970s and ’80s.
become apparent even in the Test side were
in ample evidence during the course of a
tournament in which they were thumped
by both India and Kenya. Lara’s brilliance
eliminated South Africa, the form team,
in the quarternal, but all Warne did was
capitalise on batting difdence that even
Kenya, the new kids on the tournament
scene, had exploited so ruthlessly.
It was also undeniable that the region
struggled to produce players of comparable
quality to the titans of the 1970s and ’80s.
The bowling standards were maintained
until Ambrose and Walsh called it a day, but
outside of Lara, Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul – and he’s been more grafter
than destroyer – it’s hard to think of a
batting talent t to rank alongside Sachin
Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting or Inzamam-ul-
Haq, leave alone the incomparable Vivian
Richards.
why things went so wrong in the space of a
decade. Some mention the lure of American
sport. Holding, who is as passionate about
West Indies cricket now as he was while
wearing the colours, rubbishes that notion.
He speaks of the cyclical nature of winning
and losing, and also of administrators who
have seldom had the players’ best interests
at heart.
supports his view. A generation ago,
Sports Illustrated reckoned that three
teams epitomised sporting dominance in
the 1980s. One was West Indies. Another,
Liverpool Football Club, won its last league
title in 1990. The third, the San Francisco 49ers, have been back to the Super Bowl
just once since winning their fth in
January 1995.
WORLD CUP FACTS
Australia dropped players who defected to the World Series in 1979,
while Pakistan and West Indies selected them fearing fans’ backlash.
India desperately needed a win against Zimbabwe to
stay in the tournament, and at 17 for 5, then 78 for
7, it looked bleak. That was unl Kapil Dev, the India
captain, decided to take maers into his own hands in a
merciless display of power hing. Kapil Dev dispatched
Zimbabwe’s bowlers to all corners of the park as he
raced to his hundred from a mere 72 balls. By the me India’s quota was complete, he had piled on 175 runs
from 138 deliveries with 16 fours and six sixes in what
would go down as one of the greatest innings ever.
India won that match. The Kapil magic connued in the
nal, when he took a memorable catch to dismiss Viv
Richards.
Kapil Dev: 175* o 138 balls and 1-32 o 11 overs
v Zimbabwe, Tunbridge Wells. Match Impact:
13.40
Kapil Dev scored almost 66% of his team’s total. His
innings had a high Pressure, Runs Tally (proporon
of runs scored) and Partnership-Building Impact
(ability to build partnerships and occupy the
crease). It is, ll date, the highest impact innings
played by any Indian in a World Cup. His all-
round performance – he picked up a wicket and
was economical – is the third-highest impact
performance by any player in World Cup history.
Final: West Indies v India
It was a match that pied an unlikely candidate
in India against the most dominant force in world
cricket at the me. Both teams had come into the
nal on the back of some strong performances.
Clive Lloyd asked India to bat at Lord’s and the
West Indies bowlers hunted in a pack to dismiss
them for 183. The dening moment came when
West Indies were on 57 for 2 and Kapil Dev plucked
a famous catch, running backwards, to dismiss
Vivian Richards, who was at his destrucve best.
West Indies were shot out for 140 and India
stunned the world to li their maiden World Cup.
Brief scores:
Lord’s, London: India 183 in 54.4 overs (K Srikkanth
38, Mohinder Amarnath 26, Sandeep Pal 27; Andy
Roberts 3-32, Malcolm Marshall 2-24, Michael
Holding 2-26, Larry Gomes 2-49) beat West Indies
140 in 52 overs (Vivian Richards 33, Je Dujon 25;
Balwinder Sandhu 2-32, Madan Lal 3-31, Mohinder
Amarnath 3-12) by 43 runs. MoM: Mohinder
Amarnath
D Govindraj, part of the Indian squad that won the
Test series in West Indies and England in 1971, was
employed with State Bank of India in London in 1983.
He wanted the side then to play in his benet match
immediately aer the World Cup, and when I proposed
the idea to Kapil Dev, or “Kaptaan” as I address him, the
boys immediately agreed to it. June 26, the day aer the nal, was a Sunday and was appropriate, as it gave
the Indian diaspora around London’s Gymkhana Ground

We had lile idea then that the match would take place
less than 24 hours aer we had defeated West Indies
in the historic nal and celebrated ll 3am in the night.
All the players turned up on Sunday aernoon, but the
eects of the spirit had not yet mellowed down.
The scenes at the ground, expectedly, were chaoc and
the match had to be stopped many mes. Soon aer
that, we headed to my brother-in-law’s house for a
dinner party and there too people gatecrashed. It was
so euphoric that even though we fell short of food and
liquor, no one complained.

In the June 1983 edion of Wisden Cricket Monthly, David Firth, the editor, had wrien that India did not
deserve to play in the World Cup. He literally had to eat
his words, and the publicaon carried an image of him
doing so!
We won because the team lived like a family.
Dierences were solved amicably, and as manager, my
objecve was to keep the unit in a happy space devoid
of any mental pressure.

Aer a game, a player waited anxiously for his friends
to come and pick up his wife, who was staying with
them. Soon aer that, I asked the team if they have
any problem if the ladies travelled in our bus. Cheeka (Krishnamachari Srikkanth) had got married just two
months previously and wanted to spend a day with
Vidya (his wife, who was staying with a relave).
Instead, I asked Roger (Binny, Srikkanth’s roommate) to

The board’s clause was that wives couldn’t stay in
the same hotel or travel in the team bus. I violated
the norms on humanitarian grounds, and when we landed in Mumbai aer the tournament, an ocial
reprimanded me. I smiled and replied, “Had I not done
that, we would not have won the cup.”

Before the World Cup, my father had got a showcase
cleared in our Secunderabad house for the winner’s
medal that his son was to bring. It was a bit
overambious, though I was condent of a seminal
berth with the bits and pieces players we possessed in our ranks, but today it is my proudest possession.
PR Man Singh was India’s manager during the 1983
World Cup campaign.
The team that was a family
Celebraons connued long aer that historic victory against West Indies
P R M A N S I N G H
WINNINGES EAM ON HE BIG SAGE
Some luck, yes, but it was a lot of pluck and more skill that made Australia
all-conquering at the World Cup
S H A M Y A D A S G U P TA
N o team, apart from
West Indies in the early
editions of the World
Cup, has dominated the
but that’s not quite fair.
In 1999, Australia were hardly all-
conquering in ODIs. They could have
crashed out of the tournament any number
of times. That they didn’t, of course, is
a testament to their resolve and ability.
But were they the best team in the world
then? Hard to say. South Africa must feel
they were as good. Ditto for 1987, when
Australia won the World Cup for the rst
time, against all calculations. But win they
did, in 1987 and in 1999, and then in 2003
and 2007, twice more than West Indies and
India have.
Australian team at possibly the worst
time, quality-wise, in their history, in
1984-85 after Kim Hughes’s tear-drenched
wickets is another case in point.
Luck, yes, sure. Pluck too. And we had
the second of three successive unlikely
champions of the World Cup, sandwiched
between India in 1983 and Pakistan in
1992.
True, Pakistan emerged out of nowhere
to win the 1992 World Cup, but Australia’s entry into the nal of the 1999 tournament
was just as unexpected.
Australia slipped to a ve-wicket loss to
New Zealand and then a ten-run loss to
Pakistan. The format of the World Cup worked in their favour, with wins over
Bangladesh and West Indies enough to
take them into the Super Sixes, but it was
still a bit sticky for them.
There was on display a trait that
we have come to see in big matches
as quintessentially Australian:
Winning key moments
we have come to see, in big matches over
the years, as quintessentially Australian:
Winning key moments. In the rst match of
the tournament they played, for example,
India were well on course to chasing down
271 till Australia effected two run-outs
and Waugh went past Maninder Singh’s
defences to clinch an unlikely one-run
win. The nal, then, when Border brought
himself on and got Mike Gatting to reverse
glorious run for Australian cricket.
Then again, how could anyonereally go wrong with Gilchrist,
Hayden, Ponting, Martyn,
Sixes game, Australia had to beat South
Africa. That’s when we had the ‘You just
dropped the World Cup, mate’ moment,
and Australia were in the seminals, where
they met South Africa again. The match
was tied as South Africa messed things up
in the last over – the birth of the C-word –
and Australia, having won the earlier game
between the two sides, went through to the
nal, where Pakistan were made to wipe
the oor in an eight-wicket result.
It was the start of the Australian
domination, but hardly the stuff of world
champions. More than once in the group
stage, then in the Super Sixes when
Herschelle Gibbs dropped Waugh, and then in the seminal when Allan Donald
ran himself out so mindlessly, Australia
survived because of huge slices of luck.
Yet, luck alone cannot help a team win
seven matches in a row.
Geoff Marsh, the coach at the time,
has been credited widely for scripting the
turnaround, despite being away in the back
room. The entire batting order came to the
party at different stages – Steve Waugh
the champion among them with 398 runs,
including that unbeaten 120 that took
Australia to the seminals. And there was
the Shane Warne-Glenn McGrath combine,
which ended with 38 wickets.
The core of a fantastic one-day unit was
clearly taking shape.
Ricky Ponting and John Buchanan
inherited the team Steve Waugh and Geoff
Marsh had built. Marsh had quit soon after
the 1999 World Cup, and Waugh played
a big part in Buchanan coming in as his
replacement in spite of little rst-class
experience as a cricketer. There was a fair bit of criticism then, but Waugh liked the
quiet worker. Buchanan went on to oversee
a glorious run for Australian cricket.
Then again, how could anyone really go
WORLD CUP FACTS
Gary Gilmour, who with 11 wickets was the highest wicket-taker of the
1975 World Cup, played only two games, the seminal and the nal.
wrong with Gilchrist, Hayden, Ponting,
Martyn, Lehmann, Bevan, Symonds, Hogg,
Bichel, Lee and McGrath? Remember
that withdrawn from that 2003 squad for
various reasons were Shane Warne, Jason
Gillespie and Shane Watson.
had started in 1999 stretched to 18 by
March 23, 2003, as Australia won all their
games, the two-wicket win over England with two balls to spare the only time they
had been stretched.
that the role of a coach was only to ferry
players from the hotel to the ground, but
Buchanan, by all accounts, played a key role in that team becoming as good as it was.
He need not have bothered about talent and
skills, and he didn’t, but he, quietly, did
the one thing a team of champion players
needed so desperately: Managing the men;
‘man management’, a term that wasn’t
even in the cricket lexicon till Buchanan,
and his laptop, hit the scene.
2007: Ponting’s Invincibles
in a bit of blur as Australia again won every
single match they played in the Caribbean
in the 2007 World Cup – three in the group
stages, seven in the Super Eights, and then
the seminal and the nal.
The squad had changed, but only a tad,
and the changes only seemed to make the
unit stronger – Mike Hussey and Michael
Clarke among the men to have made the
step up in the four-year gap. As in 2003,
Twice they won the World Cup
when they weren’t anybody’s
favourites, and twice they wonwhen there were no other favourites.
At their best or not, it’s impossible
to count out Australia among the
favourites in 2015
ahead of the next best, so far ahead of the
pack that they were, really, No. 1 in a eld
of one.
1975 and 1979, Ricky Ponting’s Australians
were the best cricket team in the world in
both formats in 2003 and 2007. They had
the best opening batsmen in the world
in Hayden-Langer (Tests) and Hayden- Gilchrist (ODIs), the best wicketkeeper-
batsman in the world in Gilchrist, a top-
notch middle order with Ponting as the
pivot around which everything revolved,
the best spin bowler in the world, Warne,
and the McGrath-led pace attack that was
the envy of the rest of the world.
When it comes to a squad that good, the
trick is probably in ensuring there are no
ego clashes or mistakes. Really, what else
do you need? Injury management, maybe.
And suchlike stuff. Nothing a professional
set-up can’t address.
won when there were no other favourites.
At their best or not, it’s impossible to count
out Australia among the top favourites in
2015 – played at home, even if they opped
so miserably the last time the World Cup
was played Down Under, in 1992. They
are, after all, the winningest team in World
Cup history, and a team that knows how to win can always be counted upon to dig
just that bit deeper, nd just that one extra
man to put his hand up, create a moment
of magic from somewhere … strut their
stuff on the biggest stage of them all.
2003 CHAM Ponng inherit
the team Steve
Waugh and Geo
37
STRENGTHS England’s strength lies in their middle-order batting, which has helped them recover from early setbacks in recent times. Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Ian Bell have been their most successful batsmen over the past year, and the presence of James Taylor and Moeen Ali, who has impressed with both bat and ball, will give the three-time losing nalists some condence. Their decision to drop Alastair Cook seems to have lifted the team. In the bowling department, James Anderson and Stuart Broad are back in action, and with support from Steven Finn and Chris Woakes, they can trouble the opposition on the pace-friendly pitches in Australia and New Zealand.
WEAKNESSES England’s recent ODI form has been dismal. They lost a seven-match away series to Sri Lanka 5-2 after conceding a 3-1 defeat against India at home. Nine of the 15-member squad will be playing in their rst World Cup. Eoin Morgan replaced Cook as captain only after the Sri Lanka tour, and the team had only the tri-series in Australia – where they got to the nal, but lost – to get used to the changes and adapt to a new, aggressive approach.
WATCH OUT FOR Jos Buttler. The 24-year-old wicketkeeper from Somerset has 704 runs in his kitty from
25 matches in 2014. He has often bailed England out of tough situations, and has impressed with his agility behind the stumps.
WORLD CUP HISTORY The early editions of the tournament saw England as the perennial bridesmaids, having reached the World Cup nal thrice, in 1979, 1987 and 1992,
but never lifting the cup. It’s now been 25 years since they last appeared in a World Cup nal. The 2003 edition was their worst, with Nasser Hussain’s side crashing out of the tournament in the group stages, nishing ninth.
ENGLAND POOL A
FIXTURES
“We need to realise we have never been any good at one-day cricket – even when I was
playing. I played in three World Cups and didn’t get anywhere in any of them, but for the
England team now, it’s a chance to blaze a trail and form an identity.”
- Andrew Flintoff, former England allrounder
FEB 14: AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE FEB 20: NEW ZEALAND, WELLINGTON FEB 23: SCOTLAND, CHRISTCHURCH MARCH 1:
SRI LANKA, WELLINGTON MARCH 9: BANGLADESH, ADELAIDE MARCH 13: AFGHANISTAN, SYDNEY
“I am the greatest patriot there is,
but we do not have a cat in hell’s
chance.” - Graeme Swann, former England spinner
SQUAD
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, James
Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler
(wk), Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris
Jordan, Joe Root, James Taylor, James
Tredwell, Chris Woakes.
- Himanish Bhaacharjee
and John Emburey combined to keep Australia down
to 253 for 5, and England’s reply was going swimmingly
with Graham Gooch and Bill Athey in the middle aer
Tim Robinson’s early dismissal. Gooch fell aer a while,
and Mike Gang joined Athey, the momentum not
sagging for a moment and England on course to win the
trophy.
But the pictures show Allan Border and not Gang
holding the World Cup. And the reason, at least in the
minds of many, is Gang himself.
In the seminal against India, Gang had contributed
a wonderful 56 from 62 balls, but had goen out
in a fashion considered rather bizarre at the me:
Aempng a reverse sweep. It was the cool, new stroke
of the era and Gang rather fancied his chances with it.
Against India, he aempted it against Maninder Singh
and deected the ball on to his stumps. Not sased,
he tried it against the rst ball Border bowled to him in
the nal. This me, Gang, then on 41 from 44 balls,
top edged it on to his shoulder for the ball to pop up for
an easy catch for Greg Dyer, the wicketkeeper. Wisden
called it a shot “too crass to contemplate”.
England lost their way and Gang has been trying to
answer quesons about that moment of madness ever
since – unsuccessfully.
1987, Hyderabad. Match Impact: 9.64
Chasing New Zealand’s 243 in humid and energy-
sapping condions, Zimbabwe were 104 for 7. By their own admission, No. 3 Dave Houghton and
Iain Butchart’s plans were to save face. Eventually,
the pressure was on the New Zealanders. A
completely dehydrated Houghton got out
aempng a slog with Zimbabwe needing 18
more to win. They would eventually lose by three
runs. Houghton had an incredibly high Runs Tally
(proporon of runs scored) and Pressure Impact.
His performance was made more remarkable by the fact that he had kept for the rst 50 overs,
eecng one catch.
Final: England v Australia
In a match beng a nal, Allan Border chose to
bat aer winning the toss against England at the
Eden Gardens. David Boon anchored the innings
nicely at the top, with the middle order making
vital contribuons as well, while Mike Velea blasted a 31-ball unbeaten 45 lower down – the
result being Australia got to a very compeve
253 for 5. England lost Tim Robinson early, but
the top and middle order were largely equal to
the task. However, a cluster of wickets from 170
for 3 stalled England’s progress and they nished
second best in a World Cup for the second me.
Brief scores: Eden Gardens, Kolkata: Australia 253/5 in 50
overs (David Boon 75, Dean Jones 33, Allan Border
31, Mike Velea 45 n.o.; Eddie Hemmings 2-48)
beat England 246/8 in 50 overs (Graham Gooch
35, Bill Athey 58, Mike Gang 41, Allan Lamb 45;
Steve Waugh 2-37, A Border 2-38).
MoM: David Boon
We played every match like the defending champions,
but messed up the seminal chase
C H E T A N S H A R M A
The 1987 World Cup didn’t start on a posive note
for me. I had fractured a bone in my le thumb while
elding in a pracce match against Pakistan at the
Nehru Stadium. I was very disappointed that I would
miss the rst few matches of the tournament.
When I nally got a chance, against Australia, I wasn’t
too successful.
Against New Zealand, in a match that we needed to win
comprehensively, it took me a while to nd my rhythm.
But Kapil paaji backed me a lot throughout, he brought
me back into the aack in the 42nd over. My rst wicket
(Ken Rutherford) gave me a lot of condence. Then I
bowled a quicker one to get (Ian) Smith o the next.
Kapil paaji calmed my nerves when I was on the hat-
trick ball. He said that I had done well to get those two
crucial wickets and if I didn’t get a hat-trick, I wouldn’t
lose anything. But what I didn’t expect was that (Ewen)
Chaield would leave so much gap between his legs.
The ball trickled over and I just couldn’t believe that I’d
taken a hat-trick in a World Cup.
The match was more memorable because Sunil
Gavaskar hit his rst century. His explosive innings set
up an easy win for us. Sharing the Man of the Match
award with a legend like Gavaskar, what more could a
youngster like me ask for?
When we boarded the ight to Mumbai from Nagpur,
the airline crew cheered us a lot as we entered. That
experience was really out of this world.
India’s 1987 World Cup campaign was very rewarding.
We played every match like the defending champions,
but messed up the seminal chase. But overall, it was a
good showing.
Chetan Sharma is a medium-pace bowler who played
in 23 Tests and 65 ODIs, taking 61 and 67 wickets
respectively for India.

WORLD CUP FACTS
Sachin Tendulkar, then 13, was a ball boy during the 1987 seminal
between India and England at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
40
STRENGTHS Bangladesh have their critics, given their struggle in Tests, but the 50-over game suits their style. That the selectors have relieved Mushqur Rahim, the wicketkeeper- batsman, from his captaincy duties could work in their favour, allowing him to focus on his batting. Shakib Al Hasan, the top ranked allrounder in Tests and Twenty20s, will be a vital contributor. As for their bowling, young talent Taskin Ahmed started his career with impressive performances against India at home, while Taijul Islam, the left-arm spinner, recently became the rst bowler to claim a hat-trick on ODI debut.
WEAKNESSES Bangladesh failed to register an ODI win for most of 2014, until their 5-0 thrashing of Zimbabwe at the end of the year. The team’s ability to put up consistent performance is in serious question, and could be a factor given the format of the tournament. The inexperienced bowling line-up will be put to a stern test. Mashrafe Morta- za is captain for this World Cup, but the pacer, though experienced, is injury prone.
WATCH OUT FOR Shakib Al Hasan. A left-hand batsman and left-arm spinner,
Shakib will be playing his third World Cup. Despite his troubles with the board, he has been the team’s mainstay. Besides, he is the only one to have experienced Australian conditions recently, having participated in the Big Bash Twenty20 tournament.
WORLD CUP HISTORY Constant underachievers, Bangladesh’s win against India in the opening encounter of the 2007 World
Cup, saw them through to the Super Eights. That has been the only time they have moved beyond the rst round; this time, they will have to beat more than the Associates in their group to keep their hopes alive.
BANGLADESH POOL A
FIXTURES
“I personally think that if we play with guts, we will get a good result. We have a chance to
prove ourselves. I think we may see a couple of Bangladeshi batsmen among the top ve bats-
men at this World Cup. Our target will be to do something special.”
- Mushqur Rahim
FEB 18: AFGHANISTAN, CANBERRA FEB 21: AUSTRALIA, BRISBANE FEB 26: SRI LANKA, MELBOURNE MARCH 5: SCOTLAND, NELSON MARCH 9: ENGLAND, ADELAIDE MARCH 13: NEW ZEALAND, HAMILTON
SQUAD
Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan (vice-capt), Mahmudullah Riaz,
Mushqur Rahim (wk), Nasir Hossain,
Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin
Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Soumya Sarkar,
Sabbir Rahman, Arafat Sunny.
RISE OF HE ASIAN ASSOCIAES
Afghanistan and UAE have made a quick climb through the ranks, but can they make the
transformation from Associates to champions as successfully as Sri Lanka?
K A R T H I K L A K S H M A N A N
O n October 4, 2013,
when Mohammad
the 94-run chase in Sharjah, people
across Afghanistan took to the streets in
celebration. It was not an ordinary victory.
Afghanistan had just nished second in
the World Cricket League Championship
behind Ireland and, in the process, sealed
their qualication for the 2015 World Cup
– their maiden entry into the tournament.
That historic October 2013 victory,
which Nabi called “a gift to the younger
generation”, was the icing on the cake
after Afghanistan cricket’s rapid progress
over the years. The Afghanistan Cricket
Federation was merely 12 years old, and
just ve years earlier, they were in Division
Five of the World Cricket League, then the
lowest division of the International Cricket
Council’s 50-over competition for non-Test
playing nations.
by the ruling Taliban, but cricket was made
42
STRENGTHS It’s a young side; the number of the players in their early twenties should help them meet the physical demands of ODI cricket. Mohammad Nabi has been the full-time captain since 2013, and the players will have grown accustomed to his style. Naw- roz Mangal has had good success at the top of the order, while 18-year-old Usman Ghani has shown promise. The middle order with the experienced Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shenwari and Nabi wears a settled look. In Hamid Hassan, Afghanistan have a strike bowler who can bowl fast and swing the ball both ways.
WEAKNESSES A lot of the players are inexperienced. This will be Afghanistan’s rst World Cup, and, although the team has been a part of three World Twenty20 tournaments, 50-over cricket throws up a different set of challenges. Mangal and Shapoor Zadran missed the team’s recent triangular series in Dubai, which also featured Ireland and Scotland, as they were denied visas, so will head into the World Cup without much match practice. Inconsistency in batting is also an issue.
WATCH OUT FOR Mohammad Nabi. The Afghanistan captain will not only lend stability to the batting, but he’s also effective with his off-breaks.
WORLD CUP HISTORY This is their rst appearance at the World Cup, but
as the highest ranked Associate, and having given Zimbabwe and Bangladesh something to think about not too far in the past, their opponents will be loath to take Afghanistan for granted.
AFGHANISTAN POOL A
FIXTURES
“We will be the underdogs of our group. But the positive sign is we will have a good backing in
Australia and New Zealand. Fortunately, we have beaten Bangladesh in the Asia Cup last year,
which obviously has given us the condence. We have played Australia, so know a little about
their strengths and weaknesses.”
- Bashir Stanikzai, high performance manager, Afghanistan
FEB 18: BANGLADESH, CANBERRA FEB 23: SRI LANKA, DUNEDIN FEB 26: SCOTLAND, DUNEDIN MARCH 4:
AUSTRALIA, PERTH MARCH 8: NEW ZEALAND, NAPIER MARCH 13: ENGLAND, SYDNEY
“To obtain a qualication spot in
the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is
something Afghanistan deserves.” - Michael Clarke, Australia captain
SQUAD
Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Javed Ahmadi,
Mirwais Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi
Nawroz Mangal, Samiullah Shenwari,
Shapoor Zadran, Usman Ghani.
interest in the sport. Afghan refugees living
in Pakistan had been playing the sport
and the Taliban’s ofcial approval led to
expats setting up the Afghanistan Cricket
Federation on their return to the country
in 2001. In the same year, the sport in the
country got a major boost with the ICC
awarding it an Afliate Member status.
A few months later, even as the USA-led
war began in Afghanistan, the country’s
cricket team was invited by the Pakistan
Cricket Board to play in the second tier of
their domestic competition. Afghanistan
many with two draws in the remaining
games. Their steady rise continued with
Afghanistan gaining Asian Cricket Council
membership in 2003.
Essex, Glamorgan and Leicestershire in
their maiden tour of England – and nished
third in the ACC Elite Cup.
HISTORIC W
One-Day International status, even as they
made it to the World T20 in West Indies.
That was their rst tournament against
the full-time ICC Members. Despite some
spirited performances, they failed to make
it past the group stages, even as they
continued to nd success against non-Test
playing nations.
Mohammad Shahzad, the wicketkeeper,
for a war-torn nation and cricket gradually
became a household game. Qualications
for the World T20s in 2012 and 2014 and
the 2015 World Cup followed over the next
few years and amid all this, they were
recognised as Associate Member of the
Players like Shapoor Zadran, the
left-arm fast bowler, Mohammad
inspirations for a war-torn nation
and cricket gradually became a
household game.
that, it was becoming increasingly difcult
to keep Afghanistan out of the Asia Cup
and they made their tournament debut
in 2014. Afghanistan lost to Sri Lanka,
Pakistan and India but defeated hosts
Bangladesh by 32 runs in Fatullah – their
rst win over a Test playing nation.
***
World Cup tournament for the rst time
since their maiden entry in 1996. What
started as a team with rst-class cricketers
from other Asian countries like India,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka – UAE’s captain Sultan Zarawani was the only native Arab
in the 1996 squad – grew steadily over the
years to establish themselves as one of the
top Associate sides. Bangladesh’s entry
into Test cricket saw UAE taking over as
the top Associate nation in Asia, winning
four ACC trophies between 2000 and 2006.
One of the biggest boosts for UAE cricket
came in 2005, when the ICC shifted its
headquarters to Dubai. The international
body also set up the ICC Cricket Academy,
45
One of the biggest boosts for UAE cricket came in 2005, when the ICC
shifted its headquarters to Dubai.
WORLD CUP FACTS
1992 seminalists South Africa would have had to return home if the
referendum back home had upheld the apartheid rule. Thankfully, an
overwhelming majority voted to end it and the team stayed on.
a high-performance training centre, which
has helped develop cricket in the area.
“There is a signicant player base here
and a lot of active cricketers, and at the top
level the standard is pretty good,” explained
Paul Radley, a reporter for The National , a
UAE-based daily newspaper. “The current
administration at the Emirates Cricket
Board are harnessing that better than
ever before, and there is now a solid high
performance programme in place, too.”
UAE participated in the 2004 and
2008 Asia Cups but had the knack of
falling at the nal hurdle for World Cup
qualications. That, however, changed in
2013. UAE rst made it to the 2014 World
T20 by defeating Netherlands and followed
it up with a berth in the 50-over World Cup
when they defeated Namibia by 36 runs in
Christchurch in the World Cup qualier.
“The qualication means they got full
ODI status, and thus extra funding, which
can go a long way towards improving
cricket here,” observes Radley. “However,
REVIVAL UAE return to
46
STRENGTHS UAE could not make the most of the Associates and Afliates tour of Australia and New Zealand, but pulled things back in the four-match home series against Afghanistan, which they won 3-1. The win should have restored some condence. Expect Khurram Khan to be heavily relied upon as he has been most dependable with the bat. They have generally hunted in a pack with the ball and have been consistent in their bowling, with Manjula Guruge especially promising swing and an ability to bowl well at the death.
WEAKNESSES It’s a highly inexperienced squad: all 15 members together have experience of 71 ODIs. Besides, several players are well above 30, with a couple of them, including Mohammad Tauqir, the captain, over 40. Tauqir did not play in the four-ODI series against Afghanistan at home and UAE played under two different captains in Khurram and Ahmed Raza in the series, and that could unsettle them.
WATCH OUT FOR Khurram Khan. Khurram has been in blazing form the past
year. He was their top-scorerin the qualifying tournament and became the oldest ODI centurion when he made an unbeaten 132 not out against Afghanistan a few months ago. His left-arm spin can also come in handy. Hopefully, losing the captaincy for policy reasons won’t affect his game.
WORLD CUP HISTORY This will be only their second appearance at a World Cup, after nearly two decades. Their win
over Netherlands by seven wickets in that WorldCup was their rst on cricket’s grandest stage. A team with plenty of expats, they will be hoping to get more wins this time around, and cause some upsets.
UAE POOL B
FIXTURES
“In 1996, no one took the UAE as seriously as they do today. There was only limited exposure
to the world. People weren’t sure how good UAE cricket was. But now, people have seen UAE
playing at different levels, and I think we can surprise a few people and a few teams.”
- Aaqib Javed, UAE coach
FEB 19: ZIMBABWE, NELSON FEB 25: IRELAND, BRISBANE FEB 28: INDIA, PERTH MARCH 4: PAKISTAN, NAPIER MARCH 12: SOUTH AFRICA, WELLINGTON MARCH 15: WEST INDIES, NAPIER
SQUAD
Khan (vice-capt), Swapnil Patil, Saqlain Haider, Amjad Javed, Shaiman Anwar,
Amjad Ali, Nasir Aziz, Rohan Mustafa,
Manjula Guruge, Andri Berenger,
Fahad Al Hashmi, Muhammad
- Akshay Gopalakrishnan
while growth in the medium term should
be good, after that it is unclear.”
***
achievement for the teams, they’ve set
their sights high. “We will rock the World
Cup, all the boys are in condence,” said
Nasimullah Danish, Afghanistan cricket board chairman, in an interview, and
they could well start the shake-up in their
opener against Bangladesh, a side they’ve
defeated. Mohammad Tauqir, the UAE
captain, meanwhile, has said his team are
looking at a couple of wins, and stretching
‘big brother’ teams like India and Pakistan.
The two sides, of course, need to look
no further than their Asian counterparts
– Sri Lanka – for inspiration. Sri Lanka
made their World Cup debut in 1975, but
over their rst ve World Cups, won only
four matches. Then, Arjuna Ranatunga
led them to a historic World Cup victory in
1996 and they’ve since been one of the top
sides across all formats. Runners-up in the
2007 and 2011 editions, they also came
second in the 2009 and 2012 World T20s,
before ended their nal jinx by winning the
World T20 in 2014.
The Asian Associates have, obviously, merely taken baby steps in their World
Cup ambitions and have a long way to go,
especially with a slimmed-down 2019 World
Cup being planned. Says Radley of UAE:
“If it is a ten-team World Cup, it is going to
be extremely hard for UAE to make it back.
UAE will be competing for the nal two
places with well resourced full Test nations
like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and more
mature Associate sides like Ireland and
Afghanistan. It is also hard to see full
members giving them many opportunities
by way of bilateral ODI series in the next
four years. If funding is then cut as a
consequence, then any progress made will
be immediately undermined.”
the best place to start the long climb ahead.
Sri Lanka made their World Cup
debut in 1975, but over their first
five World Cups, won only fourmatches. Then, Arjuna Ranatunga
led them to a historic World Cup
victory in 1996.
- 14:30 Local
- 14:00 Local
I C C W O R L D C U P 2
Melbourne Crick
- 14:00 Local
Saxton Oval, Nelson - 11:00 Local
16 FEB MON
University Oval, Dunedin - 11:00 Local
17 FEB TUE
18 FEB WED
DAY
5
ZIMBABWEV UAE Match 8, Pool B Saxton Oval, Nelson - 11:00 Local
19 FEB THU
Regional Stadium, Wellington - 14:00 Local
20 FEB FRI
Hagley Oval, Christchurch - 11:00 Local
23 FEB MON
Manuka Oval, Canberra - 14:30 Local
24 FEB TUE
The Gabba, Brisbane - 13:30 Local
25 FEB WED
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney - 14:30 Local
27 FEB FRI
AUSTRALIA V ENGLAND Match2, Pool A
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne - 14:30 Local
15 FEB SUN
Seddon Park, Hamilton - 14:00 Local
INDIA V PAKISTAN Match 4, Pool B
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide - 14:00 Local
21 FEB SAT
AUSTRALIA V BANGLADESH Match 11, Pool A
The Gabba, Brisbane - 13:30 Local
22 FEB SUN
SOUTH AFRICA V INDIA Match 13, Pool B
Cricket Ground, Melbourne - 14:30 Local
26 FEB
SRI LANKA V BANGLADESH Match 18, Pool A
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne - 14:30 Local
AUSTRALIA V NEW ZEALAND Match2, Pool A
Eden Park, Auckland - 14:00 Local
28 FEB SAT
WACA, Perth - 14:30 Local
w i s d e n i n d i a . c o m
14:30 Local -
14:30 Local -
( F E B R U A R Y 1 4 - M A R C H 2 9 )
NALS
ALS
D
PAKISTAN V ZIMBABWE Match 23, Pool B
The Gabba, Brisbane- 13:30 Local
1 MAR SUN
Manuka Oval, Canberra - 14:30 Local
3 MAR TUE
McLean Park, Napier - 14:00 Local
AUSTRALIA V AFGHANISTAN Match 26, Pool A
Saxton Oval, Nelson - 11:00 Local
6 MAR FRI
ZIMBABWE V IRELAND
8 MAR SUN
AUSTRALIA V SRI LANKA Match 32, Pool A
9 MAR MON
10 MAR TUE
11 MAR WED
Bellerive Oval, Hobart - 14:30 Local
12 MAR THU
13 MAR FRI
ENGLANDV AFGHANISTAN Match 38, Pool A
14 MAR
Eden Park, Auckland - 14:00 Local
AUSTRALIA V SCOTLAND Match 40, Pool A
Bellerive Oval, Hobart - 14:30 Local
15 MAR SUN
PAKISTAN V IRELAND Match 42, Pool B
19 MAR THU
QUARTER FINAL 2
14:00 Local -
Readmied to the Internaonal Cricket Council and
parcipang in their rst World Cup, South Africa had
caught the imaginaon of the cricket world, especially
with the elding of Jonty Rhodes, and his agility and
skill were on full show against Pakistan. Inzamam-ul-
Haq was spearheading Pakistan’s chase of South Africa’s
211 (reduced by rain to 194 in 36 overs) with Imran
Khan, having hit ve boundaries on his way to 48 and
threatening more. Inzamam set o for a leg bye, but
was sent back by Imran. But wait! Was it a bird? Was
it a plane? Was it Superman? No! Rhodes charged in,
picked up the ball on the run with his right hand, deed
gravity and ew airborne to break the stumps. South
Africa won by 20 runs.
Rameez Raja: 119* o 155 balls v New Zealand,
Christchurch. Match Impact: 13.20
In their last group game, a must-win for Pakistan,
Wasim Akram’s 4 for 32 and Mushtaq Ahmed’s 2
for 18 shot New Zealand out for 166. Pakistan, in
their reply, were jolted early by Danny Morrison,
reduced to 9 for 2. Rameez Raja, the opener,
eased the situaon with Javed Miandad. In their
third-wicket partnership, Miandad’s contribuon
was only 30, as Rameez Raja scored a mammoth
71% runs the team made. This he did under
pressure (Pressure Impact) and made sure he
baed ll the end to nish the game o (Chasing
Impact).
one win in the rst ve matches. But then, four
consecuve victories later, they met England in
the nal in front of an 87,182-strong crowd in
Melbourne. Pakistan rode on Imran Khan and
Javed Miandad’s century partnership to set
England 250 for victory. In reply, England were 69
for 4 before Allan Lamb and Neil Fairbrother built
a 72-run partnership. But once Wasim Akram and
Aaqib Javed removed both, Graham Gooch’s men
plummeted to a 22-run loss. Pakistan won their
rst World Cup nal and England lost their third.
Brief scores:
50 overs (Imran Khan 72, Javed Miandad 58,
Inzamam-ul-Haq 42, Wasim Akram 33; Derek
Pringle 3-22) beat England 227 in 49.2 overs (Neil
Fairbrother 62, Allan Lamb 31; Mushtaq Ahmed
3-41, Wasim Akram 3-49, Aaqib Javed 2-27) by 22
runs. MoM: Wasim Akram
easy Everyone remembers that incident with Javed, when I
appealed for a run-out and Javed started jumping
K I R A N M O R E

from our point of view was the game against Pakistan,
in Sydney. We baed rst and scored 216 (for 7, in 49 overs) and it wasn’t a bad total, which we thought was
quite a good one, even though they had Javed Miandad
and all the other batsmen. The boundaries were quite
deep, so scoring runs quickly wasn’t easy. But we
weren’t condent – a few more runs would have been
beer.
Everyone remembers and sll asks me about that
incident with Javed. I was talking, asking the bowlers
to do what I felt was right, asking them to bowl close
to his body and not give him space to hit. He got
frustrated as he couldn’t score freely, and there was
an appeal for a catch down the leg side o Sachin’s
(Tendulkar) bowling, which I thought was out. That’s
how the chaer started. He said a few things to me and
I gave it back to him. And then that incident happened.
I appealed for a run-out and Javed started jumping (in
mock imitaon of the appeal). So David Shepherd came
up to him and told him that if he did it again, he would
be thrown out. So it ended there.

We didn’t have a good me at the World Cup, which
came at the end of a long tour. Touring Australia is
never easy anyway. Of course, if you do well, the
locals are very appreciave, and there’s a big

cup of good hope

Documents