Shahnoor Wahid
After shattering many a dreams in the dressing rooms of the competing teams and wreaking havoc in the cardiac region of millions of fans across the globe, the World Cup finals is taking place today at the historic ground Lords, London. This 2019 World Cup will remain etched in the minds of the cricketing enthusiasts for many reasons, especially for some weird ones.
The first being the interference of rain at the prime times. Incessant rains washed away many important matches at more than one venue. While fans got drenched in open stadium, players spent boring time inside in total frustration. Rain interference no doubt robbed the players of their mental concentration and physical fitness.
This World Cup saw the fall of some giants like Chris Gayle, Rashid Khan, David Werner, Hashim Amla, Lasith Malinga, Virat Kohli, Mashrafee bin Murtaja, Tamim Iqbal and so on. The performance of the West Indies was much below everyone’s expectation. Afghanistan also disappointed fans alike with their magic spinner Rashid Khan remaining wicket-less in major matches. Pakistan’s performance at the outset was lacklustre to say the least. They came back with some spark towards the end.
India was impressive with some scintillating batting and bowling all the way to the semi-final. At one stage it seemed they were unstoppable. But at the end they had to pack up with the unexpected loss to New Zealand. No doubt, the Indian team and Indian fans make the game more interesting to watch. It did not come as a surprise that one Kolkata trader died of heart attack and a young man tried to kill himself at the loss of India.
Then came almost similar loss of Australia to England. A shocker for many. Many experts could not believe there was anyone to beat the Aussies. Actually no one could beat them till that fateful day. Aussie wickets fell at regular interval before the fiery bowling of English bowlers. On the part of England, Trent Boult and Matt Henry devastated the Australia team.
One must praise the Bangladesh team for their performance in this World Cup. May be Mashrafee and Tamim could not live up to their reputation but then we must not overlook the achievements of others in the team. They definitely need to play big matches under various weather conditions. Shakib al Hasan is likely to grab ‘Best Player of the Tournament’ award for his wonderful performance with both bat and ball.
It appears, majority of the cricketing world will support England this time. However, we shall know who takes the cup only after the last ball has been delivered.
