KOLKATA: Well, what were the odds of that? Afghanistan playing England, in the World Cup or one-off, at Delhi, Lord's or Timbuktu, always warrants a foregone conclusion. Now we have an upset, and a sure fire way of inserting some thrill in what has been a World Cup devoid of close contests. But is it good enough to set alight a boring, almost predictable World Cup? Even India-Pakistan is hardly a needle clash these days. Only last month, India defeated Pakistan by 228 runs their heaviest till date in the Asia Cup. Six years ago, Pakistan handed a 180-run thumping to India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final India's biggest loss in an ICC final.
One sided as it is, their World Cup rivalry hasn't had a close finish barring India's 29-run win in the 2011 semi-final. In fact, you have to go back almost a decade to unearth the closest margin in an India-Pakistan game - in the 2014 Asia Cup at Mirpur where Pakistan won by a wicket with two balls remaining. So it was hardly surprising when, on Sunday, India won by seven wickets with 117 balls to spare.
We like to be surprised though, and thoroughly entertained. Fed a steady diet of nerve-wracking humdingers in franchise T20 leagues, the average cricket consumer can't be satiated by its middling version anymore, certainly not when the results are so insipid. Which is why a seemingly enduring pity of this World Cup was the paucity of close matches.
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