Excellent among Equals !!

These words you are reading are just trying to catch up with the speed of the emotions erupting out of probably every Indian ne every Cricket lover on the earth. What a game between South Africa and India was played at Barbados for the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Either of the teams had to win to prove their supremacy in the game. Their victory would not only be a testimony of superiority but also demolish many notions surrounding their performances under pressure. Both India and South Africa were unbeaten in the tournament up till the final.

India were clearly the favourites but the reputation of giving it away when mattered the most loomed over the team. South Africa on the other hand had made it to the finals for the first time without choking and now had to make the best of it

It clearly was a clash of champions. …. And at the end there was one winner because one of them has to lose. Yes ..fortunately for us it was India !

Here are some moments of excellence displayed from either of the teams !

Kohli who had averaged just 10 in the 8 matches scored 14 in the first over with 3 boundaries and proved that Class is permanent.  

Rabada getting Suryakumar out was a game plan executed to perfection by the South Africans, Rabada had nailed it with the variation in his pace.

Axar Patel’s batting was an epitome of confidence on his part as well as Rohit’s as a captain who must have promoted him.

The throw by Quinton De Cock to run out Axar Patel … was clearly the result of hard work that must have gone into practice. The way Axar was going … remember that would have been the turning point had South Africa won the match.

Finally India did not put ..but one can say were restricted below 180 (176) with Kohli top scoring 76.

In South African innings Klassen’s 50 was sheer class display of batting.

Bumra’s ability to get wickets at the right time laid the foundation for our victory. He was surely not giving it up this time. His tight overs towards the end sealed his number one position as a bowler. 

In the final over of the match …. David Miller had practically hit a Six which was converted into a catch to remember forever…. Such moments were seen establishing the differentiating fine thin line between good, better, best …and excellent !!

India was excellent and it won  the T20 world cup 2024 – Congratulations !!

The world is one big family !!

 The world is one big family !!

Some performances of sport or art reach a level where its appeal expands beyond the boundaries of  nations and beyond the limits of all beliefs. The capacity to experience this joy is being bestowed in every human. But the fortunate ones actually do so. 

The match played between Afghanistan and Bangladesh on the 25th of June 2024 in West Indies had the same potential. The uncanny coincidence is that on the same day in 1983… India beat West indies to lift the world cup for their first time. The joy for the Afghanis wouldn’t have been any less today. 

The backdrop for this match was that the heavy weight Australian team’s entry to the semifinals relied on the result of this match. If Afghanistan was to lose by a margin of 25 runs against Bangladesh then Australia inspite of already being defeated by Afghanistan would have made it to the semifinals. So it was a must win for the (!) under dogs Afghanistan for claiming their spot in the semis which the entire world thought they deserved.

Panic is in the nature of either of the teams Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In one on account of being amateur and the other immature. Like any other the game of Cricket this one too had the rollercoasters with more added exciting twists provided by the intermittent rain and its effective Duckworth-Lewis  predictions. Also the silly game now has some more silly review rules for umpiring which made the show also melodramatic. 

It would not be right to say that the spectators were against Bangladesh. But what the Cricketing fans were rooting for was the bravery of Afghanis … they say that heroes are born in the hour of defeat !.... and that exactly was making the Afghanistan team the hero even before the match had begun. All throughout the tournament they were the underdogs in every game they played. In each encounter they had to prove themselves and were seen putting out their heart to do so. I don’t want to be unfair to the efforts of players of other nations but we all know that they currently belong to the underprivileged group among the Cricketing nations.

Their display today had a mass appeal and a maximum reach within our hearts to the emotion of accomplishment. This satisfaction which emerges only through a dedicated performance is truly universal and brings the world together cutting across the biases of caste, creed and religion. The experience is ecstatic and spiritual where we the people on the earth momentarily become a one big family !!