The beauty of this World Cup had been that despite the riveting drama, the bottom line results still largely followed Cricketing logic and predictions. So you kind of got the best of both worlds, gripping action without the loss of any of the stalwarts slipping on a banana skin into WC oblivion. All was working as planned by the Cricket Gods. Until the Kiwis set off manic scenes at the Shere Bangla last night.
So much has been talked about South African chokes that anything I say here would simply be kicking a horse that died in 1992. I shall do it anyway. SA, what the hell are you doing?!? When will you do justice to your own talent?!? This team goes on to prove the cliché that the most beautiful nose, eyes and mouth can't be put together to paint the most beautiful face. One's heart goes out to SA fans who endure through gruesome chokes that only feel like the worst one ever, until the next gut-wrenching one comes along in 4 years. Generations after generations rising up to fall similarly prove that its not the players, but the system that needs fixing. And I shall conclude my rant by plainly admitting, if I were an SA official, I wouldn't have the first clue on where to start. What makes the most confident Cricketers with stellar records, playing under a fearless bull of a leader, fall like a boxer who simply spent all 10 rounds punching himself in a corner? Your guess is as good as mine, mate.
Now that I got the disgust out of my system, I must also admit that all the teams that remain in the Championship, and of course their fans, will only be too happy to see the backs of the South Africans. But if the love of the game is applied objectively, we all know what a criminal waste of talent this is. At the moment though, it goes into the credit column for the rest of us.
Moving on to more positive things in life, a panda bear was born in a zoo yesterday. In other news, Kiwi fielders made Newton turn and throw up in his grave when they mocked and ridiculed the laws of gravity, while fielding like Roman Gods with wings and Indian ones with 10 hands, all morphed and black clad into a single super being. It wasn't just one dive, or a single catch. As the Pundits would say in technical jargon, it was the whole Enchilada. It was as if they extracted the Jonty Rhodes gene, mixed it with steroids and a splash of Red Bull, and spiked Kiwis' drinks with it. It was quite simply the best fielding display I have ever seen by an ODI side. This game should be a case study on how fielding alone can create magical victories out of thin air. Vettori was fearless and brilliant with his strategies, and the rest of the Kiwis were relentless until they instilled a sense of panic in the Proteas camp. What followed is Cricketing History, covered in the previous paragraph, and the latest entry to the Choking hall-of-fame that is head quartered in Johannesburg.
While ‘Choking’ and ‘Fielding’ were the highlights of the match served up to an ever-lively Bangla crowd, there is a lot else to be learnt from the experience, mostly for the South Africans, but also for the rest of us.
Intensity doesn't always have to be provoked by extraneous events, sometimes it can just be a part of the plan. Faith doesn't always have to be inspired from a flash of brilliance, sometimes it can just be a part of the player's psyche. And, Unrelenting effort doesn't always have to come at the brink of victories, sometimes it can become the method to victory, and eventually a way of life.
Greatness though, is not thrust upon. It must be earned. (Mr. Shakespeare, I beg to differ with you on that!).
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