The Reliance Carnival in Retrospect

From corporate boardrooms to street side vendors, from classrooms to living rooms and across the media – it was the case of a nation obsessed.

‘India Today’ the widely circulated fortnightly magazine commented ‘the Reliance Cup has sent the subcontinent into suspended animation … what else, after all, could have got Bofors off the from page and out of people’s minds?’’

Precisely, headline sweeping issues like the IPKF intervention in Jaffna, the unprecedented stock market crash, the Himalayan car rally –were all inundated by the month long cricket festival. The stage was set for much action and drama. Glittering performances and nail biting results had become the order to the day.

June 21- 1975, June 23- 1979, June 25 -1983 and November 8 -1987 ; the final days of the four world cup cricket tournament shall always remain etched in the memories of cricket lovers, the world over. But in emotional terms, the fourth World Cup was leaps ahead of the earlier three.

The event has ended, but the nostalgia shall linger on for a long time to come. After all , who can forget the humbling of the reigning and the former world champs on the very second day of the carnival, the blitzkrieg 181 of Viv Richards against Sri Lanka, the valiant effort of Dave Houghton’s marathon century against New Zealand, Quadir’s last over magic against Windies, Walsh’s true cricketing spirit but for which history would have been different, Gavaskar’s maiden instant cricket ton, the remorse filled faces of Kapil and Imran and then the moment of triumph and jubilation for the Kangaroos.

Allan Border, the captain of the new champions, is the most experienced one-day campaigner in the world today. With 159 matches to his credit, in his side none but him had ever played in a World Cup before, That did not dampen their spirits the slightest. Infact, , that heightened their determination and they will have to prove. Branded as the team destined to be an ‘also ran’, the Kangaroos emerged glorious by keeping their feet firmly planted on the ground and their heads cool. Opportunities came – and they seized all to take away the Reliance Cup. Border’s men always lived up to the confidence placed in them.

The opening pair of Geoff Marsh-David Boon was, by far the best and most consistent in the cup and the factor most instrumental to their victory campaign.

At an average of 60 plus in 8 games, they laid the ideal foundation for the others to build on. David Boon, with his individual performance of five 50s turned the course of many a match. Both, the Aussies and the Pommies were second in their pools after the league matches and came back fighting from behind to make the final an ‘Ashes’ affair.

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.

Not many surefire rules of instant cricket can be formed –but looking back at the 27 matches, does provide food for thought. The importance of good ground and in-the-air fielding could not have been more epitomized and when the battle stretches to the last ball, every run saved was a run made. Also on display was the fact that good fielders broke bounds of age (Gavaskar, Emmings, Traicos –all over 38), it was a matter of will and they did it.

Interestingly, spin rather than pace was the piece de resistance of the bowling. The dream-come true was the revelation that spin bowlers were used effectively even in the final overs. The top five economical bowlers of the tournament were all spinners though the highest wicket-taker was Craig Mc Dermott of Australia.

The conventional one-day strategy of putting others into bat after winning the toss failed to strike gold. In the 27 matches that were played, 19 ended in favour of those batting first. The same applies to all the world cup finals to date-the team batting first-has lifted the cup.

Incidentally, no team could win a match when set to score anything above 250 runs in any of the 27 Reliance Cup matches. Though many were well on target midway in their pursuit, they crumbled in the end-the run rate of anything over 5 per over always proved to be the Damocles sword.

Many who were expected to set the stands ablaze failed; Martin Crowe, Des Haynes, Mendis, Shastri, Border. But new men lived up to the occasion-Boon, Navjot Sidhu, Rameez Raja, Simmons et al.
The Indian subcontinent has more than one reason to be in grief-two men who had nearly become living idols of cricket have reportedly called it a day with the Reliance Cup. Sunil Gavaskar and Imran Khan retired, though unceremoniously, on Nov 5 and Nov 4 respectively. Gavaskar, in a way was luckier than Imran, that he was able to fulfil his last cricketing ambition-that of scoring a hundred in a one-dayer in his penultimate appearance. Imran could not. He failed to cherish his ambition of lifting the Reliance Cup. Though both are still amongst the best in the business today, they have decided to go. Nobody is indispensable, but it is very doubtful that cricketing personalities of the same stature and aura would come again.

It is amazing, but not a single side, in not a single match bowled less than the stipulated overs in the time allotted to infringe the penalty clause. In fact, the complete quota used to be over with ample time to spare. If the money clause is a good a deterrent as it proved to be, it is here to stay. The reduction of the overs from 60 a side to 50 a side was instrumental in the close results as there was a reduced chance of the whole team being bowled out.

Another innovation adopted in the Reliance Cup was the use of neutral umpires in all matches. While it must be understood that neutral umpiring does not ensure perfect umpiring, it is at least a shade better than the previous pattern as it isat least impartial umpiring. Still, the standard of umpiring was satisfactory, if not ideal.

Despite spending crores of rupees on the equipment, Doordarshan left a lot to be desired-both in its telecast and the commentary. It seems that the Mandi House mandarins feel their job to be over only with the telecast of the game-and care little for the angle, the replays and proper coverage. If not from BBC and Channel Nine, Doordarshan can easily take a lesson or two from Pakistan TV which did a far more commendable job.

So the event proclaiming ‘Cricket For peace’ and which turned out to be a virtual money spinner for the Reliance Industries Ltd. That they can in the privacy of their four wall, call it the event of ‘Cricket for Money!’