Over 5 of the England innings: Nassem Shah was really cranking it up. 140 clicks, again and again, topping that mark, getting movement, and losing control of his line even as the ball scampered down leg for wides. At the other end, Jos Buttler had no idea what to do. Moving the ball at that pace, Shah was beating him, again and again, and then again.
Suddenly, Buttler knew what he had to do. He came forward, and moved across the line, and then inside, quickly enough to scoop the incoming delivery from Shah. 140 clicks again from the pacer, only this time it was deposited over fine leg for six. And then, normal service resumed again – Shah bowling pace, with movement, Buttler unable to get bat on the ball, surviving even, because he is too good a batsman to get out meekly.
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It was a tremendous over, a mega contest within the mega contest, replete with pace, bounce, movement and that ridiculous six – it was a sight to behold. And, it was the perfect encapsulation of what this 2022 T20 World Cup has been. One to remember for the ages!
Yes, there was rain. Yes, India was knocked out. Yes, Australia was knocked out too. But the cricket was surreal for the four weeks it lasted. Those upsets made it what it was – a tournament that baffled the neutral, and inspired those passionate enough to support cricket for what it was.
You had Namibia pulling the rug from under Sri Lanka on opening day. You had Zimbabwe tripping up Pakistan. You had Ireland sending a warning to England. You had the Netherlands stunning South Africa, and with it, the rest of the cricketing universe.
It was maddening from a mathematical standpoint when Sri Lanka had to fight to get into the main draw; when Pakistan had all but given up hope of qualifying; when New Zealand crushed Australia’s run-rate on opening night; when rain played spoilsport at the MCG and Englishmen took out calculators; when Bangladesh smashed those same calculators as the umpires started their India-game a tad too early in Adelaide; when Buttler and Alex Hales sent the ball into orbit in that semi-final later on.
Cricket, in essence, is a story revolving around conditions. In Test cricket, you want an ideal balance of 50-50 between bat and ball. In white-ball cricket, this balance is skewered in the batters’ favour, more so in T20s. In the UAE last year, we saw the bat ruling the roost and every team was decidedly winning the toss, and chasing. There was nothing else to it. It made for a very poor tournament.
This year the scales were tipped in a different direction. From 90-10 in the bat’s favour in the Dubai desert, we had the ball ruling the roost in the Australian outback. It wasn’t exactly 90-10 in the bowlers’ favour, perhaps except in Perth when India and South Africa met. It was more like 60-40 towards the ball, going down to even 55-45 towards the knockout stage.
It made for a spectacle and a fascinating one at that. As India and Pakistan clashed at the MCG, 90000 people streamed in to watch an epic clash. The archrivals have played in ICC tournaments in the past, but this was one be remembered. By those who were there, for they witnessed something magical! As well as by those who weren’t there, for they saw something magical on television, and then heard all about it again from those who were there.
From a neutral standpoint, Australians had no dog in the fight and were stunned by the atmosphere. Then, there was the on-field action. Privilege is the word that comes to mind when one recalls Virat Kohli’s magical knock. Pakistan didn’t know they had a par score on board. India didn’t know what hit them. Hardik Pandya didn’t know he would inspire the chase. Kohli didn’t know he would recover himself in Melbourne after three long years.
It was the knock of the tournament, perhaps the best knock ever played in T20 World Cups. As concerns, the overall picture, the Kiwis’ win over Australia was at dominant as it got. Zimbabwe-Pakistan went to the wire, and most people were amazed at the result. Even so, the first round had its share of great match-ups. The UAE engaged with both the Netherlands and Namibia, the latter losing out marginally. Magic from the Irish and disappointment from the West Indies completed the line-up of this tournament.
The final was no different. England went into the game with a heavy upper hand. If Buttler-Hales had gotten going, Pakistan would have been trampled. But not in those conditions – its bowling line-up reared up again, for it is what kept Pakistan breathing through the tournament. Cynics might argue that Shaheen Afridi’s injury cost Pakistan, but there would only be minor truth in it. At best, he would have given us an even closer contest. Even so, England was miles ahead, on the night, and throughout the tournament. The better team won on the night, and the best team won at the tourney!
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Thanks to the conditions, the equilibrium between the bat and ball was maintained throughout. The lower-ranked teams were able to challenge the top-ranked favourites thanks to this equilibrium. When the bowlers have a say, even the best batters have to listen to what tune they are singing.
As long as the conditions suit the bowlers and don’t overtly favour the batsmen, cricket – regardless of format – will thrive and we will celebrate it. In a way, this has provided the blueprint going ahead, not just for T20 cricket, but also for ODIs, as the 50-over format battles hard to survive.
If the 1992 World Cup changed the way ODIs were played and consumed, thirty years on, this T20 World Cup could infuse fresh life into white-ball cricket altogether.
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