I still remember the afternoon of the World Cup 2023 final between India and Australia. I generally preferred to be alone in watching high voltage games, just to be calm and try to take insides of the game. It was Sunday, and my mother was preparing some delicious lunch. She is a half-hearted cricket fan; she didn’t have any interest on the tournament till that day.
My father just returned home, and the first question he asked was whether India was chasing. Getting a big no from me, he went to take the shower. My mother quite generously asked, “Why are you looking so restless?”
“Well, mum, India is playing the WC final, and..” She cut my words and asked, “Ahh, no issues, they will do well, but who is their opposition?” Quite loudly I shouted, “Australia!!.” I saw a fear in her mind, and she went, “Ohh no, Australia? How can they beat Australia.?” She recalled her past incident of watching that nightmarish 2003 final against her favorite Sourav Ganguly’s India.
“Nah, they have beaten them in the tournament at the beginning, they will surely this time too” As I put these words, my mother, whose predictions hardly had been wrong as far as I know, replied back, “Keep hoping, but don’t be sad, it’s a sport, win and loses are just part and parcel of the game.!!” The moment she said it, I knew something worse was going to happen.
By the time, we were about to finish this conversation, my father came out and literally saw Shubman Gill punching the short ball in the soft hands of the mid-on fielder, and he straightaway took his eyes off the screen. “Oh no, what was that?!!” He almost turned the telly off with that Rohit Sharma shot. Hey, but is the article about my parent’s reaction? No, but it’s about the scare of Australia on those, who have seen this side smashing the opponents like an elephant puts a foot on an ant.
Exclaimer: Don’t beat Australia before an ICC Tournament:
That’s not a simple generous advice, but a warning. Do you remember the 2021 T20 World Cup? Yeah Australia won that, but quite a few remembered what happened gearing up to the series, they lost a T20I series in Bangladesh by 4-1 margin. With a huge baggage, they reached United Arab Emirates (UAE) and thrashed almost all the teams that came before their goal.
If I remember correctly, it was reverse sweep from Glenn Maxwell as even when the ball was in the third man ring, they started their celebration. It wasn’t just a win; it was coming out of the darkness of the 2018 sandpaper sag and the redemption of an unlikely winner. It was about telling the world about the proud and rich history of their cricket.
Then came Ashes 2023. There was again discussions of how England looks to be different this time and Zak Crawley started the series with a four on the very first ball. But it was Australia, and as guess they renovated their plans according to the opponents and went on to draw the series 2-2 and retained the urn, and that too without Nathan Lyon.
Fast forward to 2023 June, and Australia won their maiden World Test Championship title of 2021-’23. But what happened couple of months before that? They lost their fourth consecutive Test series against India. There is no doubt both of these are in different circumstances and conditions, but it’s like you injured a lion and that injured lion came back to kill your just when you thought you are out of danger.
Then India again defeated them in the home ODI series just before the World Cup and you know what happened! It’s never a sweet job to put a finger in the wounded place.
A 500th ‘Nice Garry’ moment for Nathan Lyon in Australian Test shirt
The Year of Pat Cummins, a display of putting words and giving them life:
You need different level of braveness and self-confidence when you talk about silencing 1.20 lac Indian crowd in the press meet of the WC final and then coming back on the next day and exactly doing it, specially sending back the ‘head of the snake’, Virat Kohli at the most critical point of the game. That’s really cool and for me, there is a different wow and respect for Cummins from my sides.
For him, it was such a hard job in February in India, when he had to leave the series midway to fly back home to be with his family. He was supposed to return, but he decided to go against it. The WTC final arrived and there was so much talk of India’s bowling.
Australia was under pressure when Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja was going through that beautiful partnership, but Cummins got rid of the big fish, Rahane. If you see the score card, you won’t understand his importance of Cummins, but every score card doesn’t suggest you someone’s value on a game.
Again, in the World Cup 2023, Australia was going through hard times, losing their first two consecutive ODIs. Sri Lanka was smashing the Australia bowlers all around the park, ad due to travelling, I missed a few overs of Sri Lanka batting. But when I reached the station, I saw Sri Lanka suddenly struggling with five down, only to find captain Cummins opening the gate.
Off they went from there on. Shoaib Akhtar made that statement, that if Australia would lose their second game of the WC against South Africa, they would only finish as the champions. Well, they did and Cummins got the trophy, to finish the year with a WTC mace, a retained Ashes urn and a World Cup.
Australia ate half of India’s economy at the end of 2023:
If it wasn’t enough for them till now, they celebrated Christmas in different way. Mitchell Starc was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping INR 24.75 crore, while Cummins got his prize of INR 20.50 crore during the recently finished IPL 2023 Auction.
So, if those WTC and WC weren’t enough for Australia to snatch from us, they ended this year taking a few of our bucks. And I reckon they won’t stop hereon.
There is a T20 World Cup 2024 coming in West Indies and the United States of America (USA), and then there is 2025 Champions Trophy. Be scared of them, if you haven’t still. They are back in their old roasting form. And I think it’s needless to mention what they did with Pakistan in the Perth Test to begin their home summer.
They eyes are now on the upcoming ICC trophies, and others need to be a little more careful of this fierce side, if they still haven’t. They are the mighty Aussies- young and free.
Author: That mAd wrIter
Someone who loves how Steve Smith from being Australia's future Shane Warne has become present Don Bradman, gets inspired by Anderson's longevity, gets awed with Kohli's drive and Southee's bowling action. Never gets excited with stats and records, and believes in instincts, and always questions spinners bowling with the new ball.
