Some things change so quickly that it’s easy for others to stay just the same

THE WORLD T20, a tournament that Sri Lanka hosted, West Indies won and India participated in—taught us some vital lessons about cricket’s past, present and future. Here, I list a few (in no particular order). 1. An international T20 tournament is won by a team that starts poorly, stutters, hiccups, and threatens to choke before beating down the odds in grand style. India did it in 2007. Pakistan surprised everyone with their late surge in 2009. Ditto England, in 2010. West Indies followed the script here. The trend is clear. Mary Poppins, who spread the rumor saying well begun is half done, was wrong. It is time Lalit Modi filed a lawsuit against her. 2. West Indies need to do the exact opposite of what their heroic predecessors did. Clive Lloyd might have unleashed the most fearsome fast bowlers, and Viv Richards, and his gum-chewing buddies, might have turned bowlers into thumb-sucking toddlers, but this WI team is a polar opposite. Darren Sammy’s team relies on spin and medium-pace. They defend when it is time to attack, and go ballistic when it is time to consolidate. They lose heads regularly and need to hold their nerve to win close games. And they celebrate ‘Gangnam Style’. Yes, the men from the Calypso heartland are bowing at the alter of a Korean, whose motto is “dress classy, dance cheesy”. The wheel turns. And how! 3. Sri Lanka are in contention for cricket’s greatest bridesmaid. This was their fourth major finals defeat since 2007. They resemble England in the 1980s and early 1990s (a World Cup semi-final loss and two finals losses). Had Sri Lanka been South Africa, they would have had the word ‘chokers’ plastered all over their jerseys, but people are applying words like ‘unlucky’ and ‘temperamental’. Lanka Captain Mahela Jayawardene was lost for words at the end of the final and suggested more matches against India will help them prepare better. OK, I made the last part up. 4. Pakistan are in a worst position when they are tipped to win. Many cricket experts picked them as the pre-tournament favorites. Some said, “It’s their tournament to lose” (now stop getting ideas!) and others said they have the right mix of youth and experience (though nobody was sure which part of that fence Shahid Afridi sat on). Surely enough Pakistan lost. So all ye’ experts: if you really think that Pakistan is the best team, then lie through your teeth, and say they suck. Write stories about skirmishes, inflated egos and conspiracy theories. Quote former Pakistani cricketers (some of who think every ball is fixed). And when the team wins, write how they beat all odds (knowing well that they were the best in the tournament). 5. Pakistan will beat India when they play them next in a global tournament. I say this with conviction because I have immense faith in one of the most important laws of cricket— the law of averages. Now, I know statisticians (genuine ones who deal in high-end mathematics, not some fluffy tabulators who calculate batting averages), and these guys tell me that the law of averages is bunkum. They say that the law is used conveniently when it fits a situation and is forgotten otherwise. They say I am an ignorant dunce, who thinks that five heads will be followed by tails. I may not know statistics, but I know history. Mark my words. Pakistan may have lost to India in every contest in a global tournament, but there will come a day (not too far in the future) when they are going to need four runs off the last ball, and when one of their batsmen is going to tonk a full-toss for six and charge down the ground like a triumphant bison. Then Pakistan will keep beating India for the next 10 years and the statisticians will continue to insist that the law of averages is bogus. In other words, history will repeat itself—in more ways than one. 6. Afghanistan and Ireland will continue to see cricket’s big boys conspiring against them. These two teams (and Zimbabwe) are like the clowns in a theatre—the big boys want them in the arena, wish for everyone to enjoy their cameos, but do not want them to take over the performance. They cannot bear the sight of these teams in the later rounds. Cricket’s economics seems to frown upon this. So, they create a format to ensure that these teams make a guest appearance. This is a pity. Because the only way Afghanistan, Ireland and the so-called minnows, are going to improve is by playing big games, not by rearing their heads for a game or two and then returning to obscurity. It’s all fine to celebrate Afghanistan’s long road from a wartorn background to an international tournament (there are many stories that keep appearing in few years), but it makes no sense to reach this far if they aren’t given more chances to raise their game. I am sure they themselves will prefer pragmatism to overt sentimentality. 7. India can lose as many matches as they want and the same questions will be asked and left unanswered. India lost eight Test matches in a row. Everyone asked if M.S. Dhoni has reached the end of his tether. Now, after the World T20, they ask the same question. During the whitewashes in England and Australia, many asked what Duncan Fletcher was bringing to the side. They continue to ask the same after this World T20 ouster. Why did the selection committee make such bad decisions? Ditto and ditto. When is someone going to take a call on Sehwag and Gambhir? Is the IPL the reason for our poor performance? Asked before, asked again. A few days after the World T20 some of India’s cricketers headed to South Africa for the Champions League T20. Then, they will head back for the home series against England. So on and so on. There’s no break in cricket’s caravan these days, no time to sulk, no time to take stock. Some things change so quickly that it’s easy for others to stay just the same.