In cricket, it is relatively a very small group of nations. The challenge are the conditions and champions are those who master and excel in different environment. Australia for the past three decades have been a dominant force in the limited overs and today they won their fifth World Cup victory. With it, they also became the only country to have won their World Cups in all the five inhabited continents where cricket is played.
FIVE WINS IN FIVE CONTINENTS
It all started in 1987 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata when they
won their maiden trophy against the run of play. Allan Border, a tough
cricketer and a great leader marshaled his young team of players and was
instrumental in guiding the squad to win against their arch-rivals England. Asia,
check!
Twelve years later, in 1999 it was the turn of Steve Waugh,
who inspired through his batting and leadership first to qualify into the
knock-outs and to see his bowlers deliver in the semi-finals and the finals
against South Africa and Pakistan respectively. Europe, check!
In 2003, World Cup fever hits Africa for the first time, and
Australia by then were consistently winning most of their matches in ODIs and
Tests. They continued their dominance and were hardly stretched throughout the
tournament and in the finals at Johannesburg, Ricky Ponting single-handedly
took the World Cup away from the Indians courtesy of a captain's innings. The
total was just too much for the Indians and they fell short by a large margin. Africa,
check!
With rotation policy of awarding World Cups in full swing,
it was the turn of the Caribbean islands to host the 2007 World Cup. Ricky
Ponting and his team once again entered as favourites and at the end of it, it
was hardly a surprise when they claimed their 4th title without losing a match.
Americas, check!
If there is one place this team would have loved to win, it was
in front of their home crowd. This year, there was an opportunity. Teams have
hardly beaten Australia in their home matches in the recent years and they
started the tournament as the #1 team. In spite of losing their group match
against New Zealand, the team always remained a strong contender. Since that
loss at Eden Park against their Trans-Tasman rival, they were hardly challenged
in the following matches. The bowling was a big plus and in the end it was the
bowlers who delivered with Mitchell Starc leading the attack. His 22 wickets
along with the strike force of Johnson, accuracy of Hazelwood and variations of
Faulkner paved the way for their fifth title and a first in their home
continent.
In Melbourne, just as Steven Smith scored the winning runs,
one could see the excitement - but it was as if the victory was expected. There
were no emotions but for joy, the victory seemed from the players interviews
that it was just another game. The enthusiasm of 1987 was missing, the jubilant
faces from the 1999 was missing and like the previous two World Cup wins, this
World Cup win too was a mere formality. Maybe it is the favourite's curse if
you may call it; emotions flow if there is an upset or when you are the
underdog. I am sure, the scenes would have been different had New Zealand been
on the winning side.
In the end, who cares as long as you have one more World Cup
in your cupboard. The fever of the World Cup would die down in a few weeks time
and Michael Clarke would have plenty of time to reflect upon his wonderful ODI
career both as a player and as a captain. Four captains, five World Cup titles and
all of them in five different continents. Needless to say, we just witnessed
one of the cricketing greats just go about their usual business and have
claimed what they feel is rightfully theirs - the Cricket World Cup.
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