Thrice Champions, Two Questions

Back in March 1985, India had a fleeting affair with perfection in one-day cricket. Skippered by Sunil Gavaskar, Men in Blue waltzed past every rival in the World Championship of Cricket, a specially organised meet of seven nations in Australia. An indelible image of that triumph was Ravi Shastri driving around the ground in an Audi, his reward for being the ‘Champion of Champions’, his teammates sitting on the bonnet.In times when even the smallest car was beyond most middle-class budgets and dreams, that smooth-as-silk ride not only typified India’s superlative show on the pitch but became a larger emblem of upward social mobility for millions. Both before and after that iconic moment 40 years ago, India has delivered a bunch of major cricketing triumphs, including three World Cups. But that flawless performance remained a benchmark of excellence for decades.In the last two years, though, India’s dominance in white-ball cricket has reached the next level: from “exceeding expectations” to “demonstrates excellence”. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, Rohit Sharma’s men played bold and beautiful cricket looking unstoppable until the heartbreak in Ahmedabad.Last year in US and Caribbean, Men in Blue made amends producing an impeccable run in T20 WC. The Sunday triumph over New Zealand to lift the Champions Trophy (CT) for a record third time combines an exceptional streak of 23 wins out of 24 in major ICC tournaments.True, India enjoyed the single-venue advantage in Dubai. True, the Kiwis, traditionally a hoodoo team for India, had flown 7,000 air miles during the three-week-long tournament. But they were well acclimatised for the final, having played and lost in Dubai a week before. The best team took the trophy — and that’s despite losing every toss in the tournament.It was a keenly contested final, often a wicket away from the knife’s edge. To India’s credit, they battled and blitzed out of trouble. Finals are often won and lost in the head. Rohit Sharma’s men have learnt the art of keeping their head. But the triumph had the distinct smell of team spirit. At some point or other, everybody put his hand up.The 5/5 performance underlines the detailed planning by the Team India think tank. Playing a spin quartet (Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy) turned out to be a master ploy. Most batters were clueless against Varun, who became the ace in the pack.CT also saw the graduation of Shreyas Iyer, who batted with consistency and confidence in all games, though he still needs to learn the art of finishing the job. And Hardik Pandya, his private laws of running between the wicket aside, again underlined why he remains matchless in crunch situations.But it was pushing the versatile and vastly underrated Axar to No. 5 and employing KL Rahul as a finisher that turned out to be coach Gautam Gambhir’s masterstroke. Rahul’s technique and talent have never been in doubt, his temperament was. But in CT, the wicket-keeper consistently passed the test. The resilient Rahul and the second coming of Varun are two big gains from the tournament. That the victory was accomplished without the irreplaceable pacer Jasprit Bumrah adds to the immensity of the achievement.Defeats are teachers. But victories can be fair-weather friends who force underlying issues under the carpet. India’s catching efficiency and outfielding are nowhere close to its world-class rivals. Yet, this vital aspect of the game hardly receives attention in word or airplay.Then there’s the blue whale in the room: the future of captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The selectors gave them the long rope the length of a goods train. Both repaid the faith by scoring runs with authority and displaying signs of rejuvenation. But a team’s transition, whenever it happens, cannot be avoided.Selectors must also remember that the making of a world-class batter or bowler is not an event, but a process. The great VVS Laxman’s first Test century arrived after 30 innings. Rohit too took years to evolve from a great talent to a match-winning batter. The next ODI World Cup, to be primarily hosted in South Africa, is two and half years away. India must relish the joys of the present without forgetting the needs of the future.Pakistan, on the other hand, has both the present and future to worry about. Hosting a major ICC championship after nearly three decades, the beleaguered country can take credit for hosting a smooth and incident-free tournament. In this backdrop, the absence of a Pakistan representative on stage in the closing ceremony was unfortunate. But Pakistan’s cricket was disappointing.If teams like England made early exits due to quality players who couldn’t perform, Pakistan sadly didn’t have the players who could perform. The vacant stands during the Pakistan-New Zealand game underlined how regular defeats have created a nationwide mood of despondency, which manifests as self-flagellation on its TV shows and YouTube broadcasts. It would be tragic if the great rivalry between the two passionate cricketing nations goes the same way as the once-feverish hockey contests that nobody seems to care about now.Tailpiece: Cricket remains the great unifying joy of India. But only cop Hathi Ram Chaudhary from Paatal Lok can find out how fireworks suddenly emerge in full fury and glory to celebrate a victory in Delhi where they are banned by court.