Cricket is a very interesting sport in which some things cannot be guessed. Despite all the preparation, thorough practice, hard work and data research, there comes a day when it all comes to a standstill.
The famous English player David Gower once said, “It happened many times in my career that I went to bat happily. Lord’s Ground, sunny, very pleasant weather, very good for long batting. Arriving at the crease, there was a program to bat all day. There was already such a good ball in the over that it got out and for the next two days I sat in the dressing room watching my teammates play a smoky innings.
“Then there were times when the weather was bad, the pitch was wet, the ball was swinging too much, the team was under pressure. There was a danger that I would be out soon, but after staying on the wicket for many hours and came back after scoring a magnificent century. Call it luck factor or uncertainty or something, but it has been happening in cricket. It happened again and again and will continue to happen.”
England made it to the semi-finals on Wednesday. When we analyze the matches, obviously many points come to the fore. As we analyze the New Zealand-England match, one of the mistakes of the English captain Morgan comes to light that he did not bowl with his good off-spinner Moeen Ali.
In the last few matches, Moeen Ali was bowled in the power play with a new ball. In this match, since both right-handed batters were playing and it is generally believed that it is easier for a right-handed batter to play off-spinner, off-spin sometimes annoys the batsmen. That’s why Morgan didn’t bowl Moeen Ali, but when the convoys were batting well, Moeen should have been brought in, maybe he could have stopped Jimmy Neshim too.
It is also being said that Morgan himself should have come a little earlier for batting. Morgan is a very good hitter, if he had come a little earlier, it is possible that the score would have increased by fifteen or twenty runs. Many other things can also be pointed out.
The fact is that this was not the day of England. When a team or a player has no day, even his good decisions go wrong. The googly is hit with a six, the yorker becomes a full toss, the reverse sweep causes the wicket to be lost, when everything is going well, the mistake also becomes fruitful.
This happened many times in big cricket matches. In the 1983 World Cup final between India and the West Indies, there was no competition between the two teams. West Indies was a better team in all respects, they bowled out the Indians on a low score, the West Indies batsmen were in form, but they could not make 183 runs in front of the balls of Indian medium pacers.
I still remember when we were in college when the 1987 World Cup semi-final took place in Lahore, Pakistan was the favorite while Australia was becoming the new team. In this semi-final, some things went against Pakistan. Imran Khan gave the last over to Saleem Jaffer who was beaten. Wasim Akram should have bowled the last over but Imran Khan’s calculation went wrong.
Needless to say, the 1992 World Cup was a nightmare for the teams. Had it not been for some mistakes, Pakistan might not have advanced to the World Cup. In the match between Australia and West Indies, if Benjamin had not dismissed Brian Lara, Australia would have lost and Pakistan would have also been eliminated.
Waqar Younis, who had conceded just 24 runs in eight overs in the quarter-finals of the 1996th World Cup, got 40 runs in the last two overs. In batting, Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar had created an atmosphere. When Saeed Anwar was out, Aamir Sohail lost his wicket emotionally on the ball of Prasad. The World Cup also slipped from our hands.
Pakistan was again a favorite in the 1999 World Cup. In the final, Wasim Akram made a wrong decision and batting first on the wet pitch, the team could not make 150, the match was badly lost. Many such incidents can be described. Sometimes a few unusual balls, the sound of an opponent bowling from a batsman changes everything.
It used to happen in ODIs, but now it is happening a lot in T20. Take a look at this first semi-final. Jimmy Neshim turned the match around by scoring 23 runs in one over. Jordan is considered to be an expert in bowling in dead overs. This was not his day, he was beaten along with Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes.
No final of World Cup is left. Supporters of both team will be praying that the coincidences that happen during the match, the momentary accidents will go in favor of our team. This is our prayer too.
