No free lunches on offer in this open, egalitarian World Cup

The first week of WC managed to generate a level of interest greater than expected

No free lunches on offer in this open, egalitarian World Cup Sri Lank's World Cup match against Afghanistan was called a clash of the equals | AFP

The high-scoring affair between England and Pakistan in the opening week had reached an interesting point and that is when the next day’s schedule was flashed on the television screen―‘Afghanistan Vs Sri Lanka’, and with it was Nasser Hussain’s voice “It’s a cracker coming up tomorrow”!

If you are a Rip Van Winkle on a cricket slumber suddenly woken up by the ICC World Cup 2019, you might have been startled by the build up. How could one ever call a match between a minnow and a side which has been a former world champion and two-time finalists a ‘cracker’? Well, as much as it’s Afghanistan’s ability to produce some top class cricketers in recent years (it has two in the top 10 of ICC’s ranking for the all-rounders), it’s Sri Lanka’s alarming drop in standards lately which made the world call their fixture a “a clash of the equals”. The problems with the Sri Lankan cricket at the moment, one suspects, run deep, and the sooner those issues are addressed, the better it is. World cricket is a better place when Sri Lanka is a force to reckon with.

Perhaps what one finds most interesting about the first week’s action is, for want of a better word, egalitarianism. No team seems to be running away with it and that’s good for the tournament. The West Indies looks good. By beating South Africa, Bangladesh has announced that it shouldn’t be taken lightly. The ever mercurial Pakistanis managed to topple England just when everyone had started to write them off and Afghanistan gave Sri Lanka a real scare. The cricket world is and will stay divided over ICC’s decision to exclude the associate members from this edition of the World Cup, the first time ever in history. In fact, it’s not just the associate members but a couple of Test playing nations too who missed the World Cup bus. Zimbabwe and Ireland are victims of the qualification process after the ICC decided to limit the number of participating nations to 10 in this edition of the tournament.

The ones who oppose the ICC’s decision to make it a 10-nation tournament list down numerous instances to substantiate their point―Zimbabwe beating Australia in 1983, Kenya humbling the West Indies in 1996, Bangladesh’s victory over Pakistan in 1999, Ireland putting Pakistan out of the tournament in 2007 and beating England in the next edition. And the biggest of them all―Kenya playing in the semifinal of the 2003 edition, thanks largely to New Zealand’s decision not to play in Kenya handling the African nation a ‘walk over’. While these are inspiring tales, they were few and far between. East Africa, Netherlands, Canada, UAE, Scotland, Namibia and Bermuda―none of them left any real mark on the world stage and to quote Ricky Ponting, “got hammered” time and again by the big boys! The argument in favour of the decision was that it would make the tournament more competitive.

So, will the ICC’s decision make this World Cup more interesting? That’s debatable, but the early signs are that it’s going to be an open World Cup. The combination of the ‘decision’ and the format is likely to produce fewer dud games. There were fears of this being a ridiculously high scoring World Cup and the first week’s action have put those fears to rest. The average first innings score in the opening week is less than 250 runs and the bowlers have had their say. Another exciting aspect is the raw pace on offer. There is nothing as gripping as watching a genuine fast bowler running into bowl to a quality batsman and there are quite a few teams boasting of genuine pace in this World Cup. England, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, India, New Zealand―all have real quick bowlers and if you are up against the West Indies, you are also entitled to get a Cottrell special salute in addition to the scorching pace and the chin music!

South Africa have started its World Cup campaign in an unusually poor fashion this time South Africa have started its World Cup campaign in an unusually poor fashion this time | Reuters

The Proteas are facing a different challenge this time from the one that has haunted them in the ICC big ticket events in the past. The South Africans have found a way to freeze and stumble at important ICC tournaments and get knocked out despite fielding a world class side and being the best side on view on many an occasion. Many label them as the perpetual carriers of the dreaded C-word tag, but the rainbow nation has started its World Cup campaign in an unusually poor fashion this time. South Africa has lost three on the trot, but all is not lost for them as the format offers a longer rope if they have it in them to stage a comeback. Perhaps they can draw inspiration from Pakistan’s success story in 1992 when it had a disastrous start to the tourney by managing to win only one out of its first five matches and going on to win the trophy eventually!

One feels that the first week of the world cup managed to generate a level of interest greater than expected and it has set things up nicely for the rest of the tournament. Whether the decision to minimise the number of teams was a wise one or not will be a subject of perennial debate but one thing is for certain―there won’t be too many free lunches on offer this World Cup!

Sreeduth is a sports broadcaster, management consultant, quiz show host, columnist and a noted percussionist as well.