The Reliance Carnival in Retrospect

Where did the others falter? Lack of the will to hang on and the killer instinct, and a fair portion of overconfidence in the case of the host teams.

India’s plight was highlighted in the very first match which resulted in a solitary run defeat at the hands of the eventual winners. Everything seemed to be going right till half-way through and then suddenly the wickets fell like nine pins.

In a way, the company doling out money for all the fours and sixers (name well-known) proved to be a fatal catalyst at times. A simple clause that the money shall be awarded only if the Indian team won the Reliance Cup could have had far more heartening results. The sense of grief and dejection of the cricket lovers all over the country can be gauged by the fact that the promotional campaigns featuring Indian players – which were a runaway success earlier — started infuriating the people by the irony of the situation.

The thorn in the flesh was the bowling attack. Except for isolated performances by Manoj Prabhakar against Zimbabwe (Bombay) and Chetan Sharma’s historic hat trick against the Kiwis (Nagpur) ; our medium pace attack was always vulnerable. Kapil, himself could end up with only 7 wickets in as many matches, most of them of tail enders in the slog overs. Here’s hoping that the MRF Pace Foundation being conducted at Madras under guidance of Denis Lillee breeds good results, for India needs fast bowlers desperately. The spinners, Maninder and Ravi Shastri did a splendid job and have driven home the fact that instant cricket, or otherwise, spin shall remain the forte of our bowling.

After Pakistan’s unexpected defeat at the hands of Australia, India was on cloud nine-having believed that it was only a matter of hours and not two matches that separated them and The Diamond studded cup. That probably made us underrate England, a thoroughly professional side.

Pakistans’s efforts were, in comparison, much better than ours. Imaran lead from the front both in batting and bowling and they fought to the last breath-not despairing of the fact that the disastrous opening had already done the damage.

Zimbabwe, led by the oldest man in the tournament, John Traicos (40 ) were the heart throbs of the crowd. Their breath taking fielding was applauded whole heartedly.

New Zealand were too dependent on Martin Crowe who could not ‘get into the groove’ and Richard Hadlee’s was a presence terribly missed. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, ran into too tough a side to show its power. But the surprise let-down were the Windies, who had played all the previous World Cup finals – but could not even book a semi-final berth for themselves this time.

Richards could not get going every time he had to, but when he did, the world gasped. His 181 against Sri Lanka can undoubtedly be marked the ‘pick of the tournament.’

All forecasts went astray, the predictions falling flat on their faces and the sense of pathos on the shocking defeat of Indian and Pakistan in their respective strongholds were treated almost as a national calamity. Even the organizers and the guests of honour failed to reconcile- the ceremony after the grand final was lackluster -a total letdown.