What’s with the upsets?
After a month-long commentary on geopolitical situation, November starts another series of articles on a new topic. Sports is imbibed in human lives in some way or the other. It unites nations and creates rivalries within nations as well. The first article on this series of sports related opinion will revolve around the ongoing ICC Cricket World cup in India. Cricket is a religion in India, and it unites people across boundaries for the common goal of attaining victory. The world cup is the pinnacle in terms of silverware as it tests the mettles of the players in high pressure situation amidst exceptionally high fan expectations.
This is all very generic, but today we will cover the great topic of upsets that the world cup has seen and the potentially changing order in cricket and what lies beyond. At the onset of World cup, it was expected that the final would be between the 2 strongest teams, India, and England. As we head into the knockout stages in a week’s time, the story is a bit different than expected. While India is ruling the points table at the top, England is at rock bottom having only won 1 match till now and have already been eliminated from the world cup. This is just one upset. On the other hand, Afghanistan is sitting just outside the top 4 having beaten 3 former world champions, England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. If that was not enough, Netherlands have also beaten South Africa who also happen to be one of the strongest teams this world cup. A couple of upsets are expected in world cup due to the magnitude of the event and the fact that every team raises their level. So, what has happened over the past 4 years that the number of upsets has significantly increased, and Afghanistan has suddenly become a force to be reckoned with:
1. The T20 and test rule: The past 4 years have already seen 2 back-to-back T20 world cups and the inception of world test championships. This has resulted in a lot of top teams prioritizing these formats and ended up playing bare minimum number of one day internationals. From a statistics point of view, England played half the number of ODIs between 2019–2023 as compared to the matches they played between 2015–2019. The reprioritization of the format has allowed the other teams to catch up even if they were playing against the associate nations.
2. The Rise of T20 Leagues: The number of franchisees based t20 leagues across the world have risen exponentially. This has allowed players from weaker nations like Afghanistan and Netherlands to also ply their trade and learn from the best. On top of that, they also end up tapping on their opponent’s weakness.
3. Adaptability to situation: With the world cup in India, it was expected that the pitches would be traditionally flat and would spin a bit. However, the world cup has seen sporting pitches which has resulted in lack of adaptability by teams like England who were practitioners of the gung-ho approach in batting. This late adaptability to the situations has costed multiple teams easy wins and resulted in more upsets.
Do these upsets indicate a changing world order in cricket?
Well, it is very tough to say as one tournament cannot define the same. Kenya went through a dream run in 2003 to semifinals but totally vanished from the scene thereafter. It does raise increased credibility for Afghanistan as a team and burst the bubble of cricket being rules by teams playing cricket since 1980s.
What’s next for these upset causing nations?
The only way to sustain these upsets and bring more equity among cricket playing nations is to ensure that the weaker nations play more regularly against the big teams. That will bridge the gap between the teams and develop the skillset to match the great players. This will ensure that world cups don’t see upsets but constant battle for the top 4 instead of an expected semifinal line up.
Here’s to more such upsets and exciting contests in this world cup and beyond in cricket.
