Yeah,very strange loss.
India was the favorite from day 1.
It is a more common sight than you may believe in cricket. The way the game is played is in such a manner that one match or one moment is all that is needed to lose it. For example in the 1980s the West Indies were the most dominant team in the world. They have batsmen who scored runs for fun and had bowlers who were unplayable. They went in the 1983 World cup as favourites and won all matches save for one, trounced Pakistan, Which was no small team back then, in the semis and then played India in the final and blasted their batting.. India barely scored a half decent score thanks to their lower order scoring some runs. Everybody thought it was a West Indies won even when they were 50 with 2 wickets down chasing 183 because they had Viv Richards and Clive Loyd, two of the best batsmen in the world at the time on the crease but Kapil pulls a great catch of viv and boom india just ran through them. India were no favourites back then and werent even considered top team. The best compliment to give them was that they were decent but they pulled it off.
It happens in cricket and when you have followed the game as long as we have, you come to understand this more and more that these tournaments are not a marker for the best team by any measure. For example Pakistan gained momentum in the Championship trophy tournament in 2017 and won it but Pakistan was not the best team at all by any measure in 2017. We were mid team. Same with west indies who won the t20 world cup in 2016 as they were a low ranked team.
I mean Aussies earlier almost lost to Afghanistan in this tourney haha....till a superstar innings from maxwell (probably the highlight of this tournament and maybe all world cups).
Happens in cricket. Momentum plays an important role in cricket and australia built a very good momentum for example in the 1999 WC we were the team to beat and were considered the favourites and apart from India and South Africa and bangladesh, but that has a big asterisk, and across ten matches, that was a very dominant display, we had beaten everybody including Australia and in that match, we were quite dominant if i remember correctly. We trounced NZ in the semis and in the final, we just fell apart... So its always about who can take the pressure and who can dominate the game and who can get that momentum. Our 2009 T20 world cup win is another example. Srilanka was winning everything and we were barely in the tournament. It was a Dilshan show who was scoring and come the final, we remove him in the first over, and srilanka just fell apart.
While i have said this, i take nothing away from Australia. In the final, they played very good and outclasses India. Full credit to them and it shows the uncertainty in these tournaments. It just takes one bad day.
Nooo!
We Turks will never convert to cricket.
Never will embrace cricket.
Our “species” will never ‘evolve’ to cherish it.
NEVEERR!
Seriously though, if I could find just a bit extra time, giving it a try is on my bucket list
Lolzzz i dont blame if there can be no conversion.
@Nilgiri and i have been watching cricket all our lives. We understand how the game is played, where the beauty and attraction of the game and where the attraction is. Its very hard to tell an individual that they need to devote their entire day to watch two teams play that may or may not be an interesting match where nothing is at stake save for pride at best and that is for top teams only and that is only for ODI. You tell an individual that they will have to see two teams play in a match that will go for 5 days, all day and may end with no result aka test cricket, they will wonder what insanity is required to watch that. You see we are born in it, so we get the insanity that there is competition between bat and ball and there is beauty in a batsman blocking a 100 balls and scoring 30 runs when the ball is swinging. Its a test of patience and class... Its like trying to convert an individual into a religion where throwing virgins in the volcano is the norm. They are not gonna understand it but the guys born into it will.
Funnily enough another aspect is the importance factor to tournaments in relation to Hard tours aka bilateral series between two teams. For example if you ask an indian fan whether they will sacrifice their much coveted wins over Australia in Australia for a world cup, they will say no. That is insanity in any other game but in cricket it is very much understandable because prestige for tough tours is far greater. For example no Aussie or englishman will give the Ashes trophy (Bilateral five match test series between australia and england for decades) for a World Test championship. You will say its a world championship, they will say ashes is greater. Most casual fans also dont see the difference but cricket prestige does not come from how filled the cabinet is but the perseverance of the team in difficult environments and how consistent they are. Infact it is not just the ranking of teams from this sense but players as well for example an Asian player record in SENA or vice versa would be given more importance when judging their worth as a world class player. For example if you score in England where the ball swings alot against a bowler who swings the ball then that innings will be rated higher than say an innings in australia where batting is easier and this will be used as a benchmark for his career evaluation. Infact if you are a player who solely performs in tournaments but is found missing in bilaterals then you will be forgotten but vice versa, the hall of fame is filled with such players.
Cricket is a patient game to fall in love with and it tests you alot and the most fun you can have in cricket is when you discuss it with individuals who understand the game as such. T20 has introduced alot of casual fans and like the performance of the Pakistan cricket Team, the standard of Pakistani fans has been deplorable recently. Not a conducive environment to learn about cricket although Indian fans are nothing to write home about as well. Perhaps lankan or english fans might be better to understand the beauty of the game