Life Etc Etc

It took me sometime to collect my thoughts after the utterly disappointing World Cup final on Sunday. I needed this break to objectively wrap my head around what might have happened and also listen to the analyses from various sources before writing this piece. Within the last week, I've seen  several experts  claim that a slow track was intentionally prepared to provide an outside advantage to India with that strategy ultimately backfiring on the hosts. I don't know how true these allegations are but more than the pitch I single out the team's performance as the primary reason we lost that day . Here are three things which our team could have done better.  1. Firstly, we did not read the pitch as well as the Australian team did . Rohit Sharma revealed that he would have batted first had he won the toss on a surface which played better in the second innings. Considering the fact that we played more international matches than any other team at the venue we should have had...

Before the first ball is bowled in the final tomorrow, I would like to have my final say on this World Cup. We've seen a tournament where the Indian Juggernaut has rolled along thumping teams across the Indian sub-continent. Come T20s or ODIs the core of this team has largely been the same since 2019. After some misguided attempts to bag a World T20, the team is finally flourishing in a format which suits its strengths. One thing which we could have done without, were the repeated tributes to Virat Kohli. Conversations on/off the field inevitably centered on him, fall of wicket montages unfailingly transmitted his reactions and the preview packages to all matches featuring India were replete with his references. Virat is a great player, no doubt, we just don't need to be reminded about it every other minute. Cricket World Cup 2023: Grandest prize of them all <Courtesy: Logowik >  Our opponents in the final, Australia started listlessly but found form at the right time. Th...

Until Next Time, Your Quotemaster, Chaitanya J.J.