[8]The WC and road ahead for Indian cricket

The cricket WC being the biggest thing in cricket, it deserves a post. Like the millions of self procliamed cricket pundits I too will give my 'vishesh tippani' on the tournament. This time the excitement was not the same as the previous years. The reasons could be the loooong tournament itenerary and the number of dead rubber games with the so-called minnows or maybe just that I am away from cricket centric junta
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The Aussies widened the gap between them and other teams to mammoth proportions and completed their world cup hattrick. In the 99 WC they were on the verge of knock out and had to win every match to stay in contention, in 2003 they had some close calls but survived each of them. In this edition they were the most dominant force with no team even challenging their supremacy. It was like they were playing a different league. The hardest thing is not to become a champion but to stay champion, because you are constantly under the scanner and to perform consitantly with all the expectations really calls for mental strength.

Also this WC saw many major teams being exposed. These included Pakistan, England, West Indies and India. Lets focus on India. After the unceremonious exit, I think they have taken some good decisions. Ravi Shastri is a shrewd man has a good cricketing brain and is a good ad hoc choice. More importantly he is well aware of the politicians and self important admistrators who rule over Indian cricket. Chappel thought he could change the system but found out he cant, then tried to change the players, but again got into loggerheads with Sachin and co. and was clueless towards the end. Ravi Shastri and Dravid would have to work thru the system rather than against it. Also the decision to drop (sugarcoated as rest) Sachin and Sourav is a brave and good one. The area where the Aussie administrators have done well is that they have always put performance before reputation, be it in the case of Mark Taylor or S Waugh. The time has come for the birth cetificates to be out and anyone over 32 should be shown the door. I think it makes sense for top players to choose the occasion to bid farewell than hang around till they are kicked, even though it maybe be a year too soon. McGrath could not have had a more glorious exit from the game and it could not have happened to a better person. In the beginning purists said it was sledging that got him wickets but later on stopping sledging did not stop him taking wickets. The way he stood by his wife thru cancer was also incredible. McGrath you will be missed n thanks for the great times.