From the iSport Cricket Pavilion: iSporter Karan Mundul is pleased that India as a host nation, won the World cup making the entire country proud. However, was the overall event actually as great? He questions. Read to know more.
The World Cup is over. India became the first host nation to win a World Cup. The country is ecstatic. The players are being showered with gifts, money and endorsements. Media is praising everyone & anyone connected to Indian Cricket. What about the ICC World Cup 2011? Other than India winning the event was there any factor which contributed to this "hugely" successful event?
Let's rewind back a couple of months. The schedule is announced. 14 teams & 210 players will spend 43 days (not counting the practice matches & opening ceremony) battling it out. I know cricket is a long game but 43 days?
The Olympics is considered to be the biggest sporting event on earth. The 2008 Summer Olympics saw 11,024 athletes compete in 302 events over 17 days. The Football World Cup has 32 participants. The tournament lasts exactly a month with the top 4 teams playing 7 games (losing semi finalists play for 3rd place). Even the Tennis Grand Slams last a fortnight with Nadal & Federer playing 7 matches during that period.
Anyway so after playing 42 league games over 30 days what did we get? Surprise surprise it was the same teams who were expected the make the quarters. If the ICC wanted minnows to qualify then they should've reduced league matches not increased them. Even when the ICC stuck to this format why couldn't they have played 2 matches a day? It's not like cricket fans were desperate to watch every league game. In any bilateral series an ODI is played every 3 days.
Teams are used to playing 5 games in 15 days so why not 6 in 18 days? ICC claimed that the tournament format was a hit because we were kept interested till the last game. By keeping important fixtures at the end (Pakistan v/s Australia, India v/s West Indies, New Zealand v/s Sri Lanka) it was obvious that we wouldn't know the quarter final line-up until the final day. The fact that ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat stated that World Cups 2015 & 2019 would host 10 teams tells us that the ICC realized it's mistake even before the 2011 tournament kicked off. Pity they didn't realize this before releasing the schedule.
Since the 2007 World Cup three events have been introduced to cricket: The T20 World Cup, Champions League and the IPL. These events have changed the face of cricket. The money & glamour involved has reached new heights. If the ICC really wanted to prove that ODI's have a future then they would've made an effort to make the tournament more exciting with prizes & glamour.
There was no prize money for the man of the match in any game; Yuvraj Singh got a trophy for being player of the championship; nothing for the top run getter or the top wicket taker in the tournament. There was supposed to be a 3 million dollar (Rs 13.5 crore) cash prize for the winning team: I didn't see it being handed over. All that transpired was an announcement of a bonus award from BCCI & a trophy for Dhoni & co.
To make things worse there was no closing ceremony. 2 days prior to the World Cup our poorer cousins hosted an Opening Ceremony at the Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka. Although it wasn't spectacular it was certainly very impressive. We should have had some performances either before or after the final. Something as simple as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy singing "De Ghuma Ke" With all the money ICC & BCCI made in the event something more than a few fireworks was expected.
It's clear the ICC's agenda was to recover losses from the 2007 edition where India & Pakistan were knocked out early. The schedule was stretched so that matches involving India were held on weekends. Even the semi-final draw was alleged ly changed. Initially the schedule stated that the winner of A1 v/s B4 would play with the winner of A2 v/s B3, but once Pakistan beat Australia & led Group A the schedule was altered to winner of A1 v/s B4 playing winner of A3 v/s B2. This meant that India played Pakistan in the semi finals instead of New Zealand. Guess everything is possible when there is a politician at the helm.
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Asif Khan
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... Very well written Karan! Fans should realise that there is nothing very patriotic or national about any sports. It's pure business for the associations and federations that run sports. |
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