Three back-to-back finals of ICC white-ball events and winning two successive ones make India the top white-ball team in the world.
Like in the ICC T20 win last year, the Indians beat every team in the Champions Trophy too, and if that is not an indication of India being the best, then please let us know what is.
Yes, there will be the carpers who talked about the advantage India had playing only at one venue and not having to travel between matches. However, that was decided by the ICC much before the tournament started, and any negative comment about that should have happened before the tournament’s first ball was bowled.
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And if ‘home advantage’ is the reason India won, then how come England, from where most of the whingers were, did not win ICC trophies till 2019 despite hosting it about half a dozen times earlier?
India won simply because it had a well-balanced team, and at different times in the tournament, different players played a game-changing role in the team’s win. Above all, there was the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, who, in winning two ICC titles as captain, has joined the incomparable MS Dhoni in winning multiple titles as skipper of the Indian cricket team. Rohit also squashed rumours about his impending retirement, saying he has not decided to retire from the format.
The next big 50-over tournament is the ICC World Cup in South Africa in 2027, and the selectors will now have to tread gingerly around the team selection in the coming months. Seeing Rohit receive the Champions Trophy from ICC Chairman Jay Shah was a joyous moment for all Indian cricket lovers, and they will forever be indebted to the team for giving them this cherished visual.
It took away, to a great extent for me, the sorrow of losing not just one of my idols but also one of the nicest human beings, Padmakar ‘Paddy’ Shivalkar.
Paddy bowled his heart out for every team that he bowled for but none more so than for his beloved Mumbai team. He and Abdul Ismail were decidedly unlucky not to get the India cap despite regularly picking heaps of wickets on the domestic First-Class circuit.
I have said this earlier too, that one of my regrets as the India captain was not being able to convince the national selectors to pick Paddy even in the squad of 15, let alone in the playing XI.
The India captain is co-opted to the selection committee but has no vote in the selection of players. I copped a fair bit of stick from the Marathi journalists for not being able to get Shivalkar into the India squad, but I wish they had been flies on the wall to listen to the reasons given for him not being considered for the India cap.
Sadly, in India, the actual discussions of the meeting are hardly, if ever, minuted, and only the end result is put in. Otherwise, the reality of many a meeting, where I and many other India captains have been blamed for the selection or omission of players, would be known to cricket fans.
Anyway, back to cricket. In the last 10 years or so, the Ranji Trophy has been won by many States that earlier were not even able to qualify for the knockouts. This is a sign of how healthy Indian cricket is and the talent pool coming through now that the game has become a good career option.
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Many parents, who otherwise would have wanted their children to become doctors, engineers, bureaucrats, or pursue some such professions where income was guaranteed, are now encouraging their children to take up cricket if they see a spark in their child. They know that even if the child is good enough to play Ranji Trophy cricket, he will earn a decent living.
That said, the Ranji Trophy fees per match could do with another increase for the next season since the difference between what an ordinary uncapped but lucky player gets for the IPL and what a truly hard-working Ranji Trophy player earns is huge. If only other State teams could follow the example of the Mumbai Cricket Association and give a matching amount of fees to what the BCCI gives, then the players would get a really good amount commensurate with the number of days they play.
Every State Association gets a hefty subsidy annually from the BCCI, and most of it stays put in a bank instead of being invested in infrastructure building and the development of the game, which is why it is given. So, the States can afford to match the fees that BCCI gives for its Ranji Trophy teams. The good news is that there are more and more administrators coming through who love the game and are very aware of the need to promote and encourage their teams.
Hopefully, this will translate into good players not leaving the game for alternate careers and staying on to make State cricket, and thereby Indian cricket, stronger by the day — so it continues to win more trophies like Rohit and his boys have done.