
“NEVER be let down. You have been amazing throughout and you shall have the trophy in your hand one day. Keep believing!” More than being wise and motivating, it’s the person from whom they came that should be the biggest pick-up for the Indian team after they were undone by Australia at the ICC T20 World Cup final in Melbourne on March 8: the great Vivian Richards. In a format where the margin for error is slim, Indian bowlers carved one victory after another till the law of averages caught up with them. One of the youngest teams in the World Cup, India flunked in all departments on D-Day. Skittled out for 99, Harmanpreet Kaur’s team lost the final by 85 runs to give Meg Lanning’s Australia a record fifth title.
It ended in heartbreak, but the pulsating cricket the Indian team played and the body-language it displayed not only caught the attention of Richards, Sehwag or Kohli, but leading sports marketing professionals too. In the post-Mithali Raj era, the Indian women’s team is aggressive and ready to stare down the opposition. It reminds one of Sourav Ganguly’s team—confident and cocky—and its reincarnation in Kohli’s Team India.
As has been pointed out, the final, in its denouement, resembled the 2003 men’s WC final in Johannesburg. Ricky Ponting plundered the runs after Mathew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist that day, much like Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney put on a match-winning 100-plus opening stand at the MCG. At the Wanderers, India lost by 125 runs, but Ganguly’s men had become the face of a metamorphosed Indian cricket culture.
Brett Lee, who was part of Ponting’s 2003 World Cup winning team, shared India’s disappointment of losing a final after dominating a tournament, but echoed Richards: “This is not the end for them but the start.”
この記事は Outlook の March 23, 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Outlook の March 23, 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン

Layers Of Lear
Director Rajat Kapoor and actor Vinay Pathak's ode to Shakespeare is an experience to behold

Loss and Longing
Memories can be painful, but they also make life more meaningful

Suprabhatham Sub Judice
M.S. Subbulakshmi decided the fate of her memorials a long time ago

Fortress of Desire
A performance titled 'A Streetcart Named Desire', featuring Indian and international artists and performers, explored different desires through an unusual act on a full moon night at the Gwalior Fort

Of Hope and Hopelessness
The body appears as light in Payal Kapadia's film

Ruptured Lives
A visit to Bangladesh in 2010 shaped the author's novel, a sensitively sketched tale of migrants' struggles

The Big Book
The Big Book of Odia Literature is a groundbreaking work that provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the rich and varied literary traditions of Odisha

How to Refuse the Generous Thief
The poet uses all the available arsenal in English to write the most anti-colonial poetry

The Freedom Compartment
#traindiaries is a photo journal shot in the ladies coaches of Mumbai locals. It explores how women engage and familiarise themselves with spaces by building relationships with complete strangers

Love, Up in the Clouds
Manikbabur Megh is an unusual love story about a man falling for a cloud. Amborish Roychoudhury discusses the process of Manikbabu's creation with actor Chandan Sen and director Abhinandan Banerjee