Demolition Domination & Dazzle

  

The title perfectly summarises Team Australia's Cricket World Cup 2023 Campaign!

Before getting into the details of the winners of the Cricket World Cup 2023, let's take a moment to applaud the valiant efforts of our men in blue.  The way they performed since the beginning of the tournament has been nothing short of extraordinary to say the least. No matter who the opponent was, what the weather conditions were, the men in blue effortlessly performed the job of outplaying their opponents, showcasing their dominance, one game at a time.

Be it Md. Shami's excellence with the ball, or Rohit Sharma's selfless aggressive batting style or Jadeja's all-round excellence or KL Rahul's ability to adjust his game as per his team's requirement or numerous other heroics of the men in blue, every member of the Indian cricket team performed like a true warrior on the field. Yes, the final  result doesn't do justice to the efforts put in by the coaching staff and the players to bring the cup home, lets acknowledge the fact that no team likes coming second but such is the nature of sport, in a knockout game, you have to put your best foot forward every time you step on the field, one average day and you are outplayed by your opponent.  

Now focussing on the other side of the story, lets acknowledge the fact that it takes courage, self-confidence, resilience and a whole lot of hard work to turn things around after losing the initial 2 games of the tournament and backing it up by winning 9 games on the trot and clinching the world cup by defeating the tournament hosts (and favorites, owing to the league game stats and the home advantage). Performances like these signifies  the character of a team and justifies their passion towards the sport. 

As we would all agree, playing the final against the Indians in their backyard is not for the faint-hearted and in my opinion, had it been any other team apart from the mighty Aussies, they would have succumbed to the pressure of facing the crowd of 1.25 lacs+ Indian fans cheering against them. 

Keeping aside the history of Aussies adapting to unfair means once in a while to attain a victory, let's take a moment to appreciate their commitment towards winning the cricket world cup 2023. Be it the long list of injured players, back to back losses in the first 2 games,  crumbling batting order against the underdogs, Afghanistan, they faced it all with grace and whenever the chips were down, just like any champion team would do, they succeeded in living to fight another day. Let's applaud the Aussie's will to fight till the last drop and the ability to hold onto their nerves when it mattered the most, owing to which they managed to outplay their counterparts and win the coveted world cup. 

Let's consider ourselves lucky enough to witness the sheer dominance of Indian Cricket Team, (almost) throughout the course of the tournament. The trophy didn't come home,  but the fans aren't going away, either. Some we win, some we learn,  but the fact remains we will always support our team, through thick and thin. The heroics of the Indian Cricket Team at the 2023 Cricket World Cup will be discussed for a long long time at every cricket crazy household all around the world.  

Write this man off and the joke's on you!!

10 IPL final appearances (out of 14 and not 16 seasons) and 5 IPL trophies later the Captain Cool still lives to fight another day. Such is the aura of the man, who no matter in which ground of the country he stepped out to lead his team at, he snatched away the home advantage from the opponents and thus, by default, succeeded in putting them on the back seat even before a ball had been bowled. Before him, only one (super)man had managed to pull off such a stint in 2010, whom we dearly refer to as the 'God of Cricket'. If this does not speaks volume of a person's character then I don't know what would. 

The post-match ceremony that followed after CSK secured its 5th IPL title, it was way past 2AM on a Tuesday morning and no wonder the spectators at the stadium wanted to go back home, having said, it would be a no-brainer to assume neither did the viewers shut off their screens and the entire nation watched the post match ceremony as eagerly (maybe more) as the last over of the IPL 2023 final, waiting for their captain to reveal his future plans. Cometh the man of the moment and he announces that he's not gonna follow the easy path and retire today (which seems to be the perfect moment to do so), he's gonna wait and he's gonna see if he has one more in him and give in his everything to come back one last time next year for his fans, 'if his body allows'. In this moment, he gained/re-gained the entire nation's respect and many more followers, one more time. He says, it would be his way of saying 'thank you' to his fans for all the love & support that they have showered on him throughout the IPL 2023 and way before that. 

Nothing but respect for the man who backs his players no matter what. He gives his players the security to express themselves in the middle which in turn give themselves the freedom to do what they are really good at, with ease. And the last night was a perfect instance where this practice worked in CSK's favour. Be it CSK's 2 of the oldest soldiers, Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu, or the young lads Conway and Shivam Dube, played their roles with perfection to help secure their team a win. Not to mention, it all happened when their leader fell prey to the opponent's tactics at the most crucial time and couldn't finish the game for a change.  International and national players alike, be it Shane Watson, Faf Du Plesis, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Mathew Hayden and many more have at various occasions have admitted that MSD is the best captain they have played under, period. 

Flashback to the time when CSK couldn't make it to the playoffs of the IPL 2020, the nation was wondering why is Dhoni not calling it a day yet, some of them went too far ahead and had the audacity to comment that he has lost his sheen as a T20 batsman, some of us even shamelessly questioned his place in the team. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, there was a bunch of his supporters, the genuine clan, and obviously the CSK management who knew his value and stood by his side, who hoped soon enough the captain cool showcases a few glimpses of his part heroics and show us one more time he's always got one more in him. Fast forward to 2023 and 2 more IPL titles later, we all know the joke's on whom now.

Sincerely, 

A Dhoni Fan.