India's performance in the recently concluded ICC cricket ODI World Cup was nothing short of outstanding but did it mean anything? The answer is a resounding 'No' as they lost the only and most crucial game of their lives and broke a billion hearts despite playing admirably well right through the tournament beating every team by their wayside.
It was one day horribly gone wrong and unfortunately this had to happen at the most pinnacle point. Sport is cruel because ultimately when years pass by, only the victor would be remembered and whether one likes it or not, the victory team will be etched to Australia.
Australia on the other hand who started the tournament poorly raised their A game come the clutch moments most notably the semifinals and finals. They have done this time and again with their mental fortitude able to turn around any level of extreme pressure when it comes to the knock out phase. Australia haven't necessarily been the best team but they just always rise up when most needed and are undeniably unbelievably good at raising the bar in those clutch moments.
They are now single handedly the undisputed most successful side in the history of world cup cricket especially with regard to big titles won and no other country lands a distant second. If one includes both the men's + women's combined records in World Cups, it's simply unenviable and doesn't look like being broken for the next century even if they don't happen to win anything from here on in. Such has been their dominance in the sport of cricket.
Coming to India they have been abysmally unlucky when it comes to the crunch moments. This particular defeat exacerbated the misery as it came in front of a jam packed rampaging home audience who were cheering on to end their tournament hoodoo but in eventuality it only compounded the sadness. Since their last major ICC tournament win, there have been 10 world cricketing events with India making the semifinals or finals in 9 of them but they couldn't convert the final outcome even in one of these. Consistency wise they have been the standout team but time and again failed during the inevitable horizon. It's almost become a mental or psychological issue as the team is faltering repeatedly only at the end.
The performance and skill set is definitely there as it could be argued that without it they cannot even be coming thus far every other time. But somehow the disintegration and melt down happens every time when they are just a game or two away from winning the tournament. Cricketing wise India are not the only side who have choked on important occasions but in recent times they lead the pack comprehensively.
South Africa also have a pretty poor record when it comes to knockouts in ODI World cups. Since their re advent into cricket from the 1992 WC onwards they have lost in semifinals every alternate event ranging from 1992, 1999, 2007, 2015 and now 2023 with a majority of these being agonizingly close. They also bowed out of the 1996 and 2011 World cups in the quarter final stage thus not being able to win a single knock out game so far in ODI World Cups. The five times they made the semifinals, there were no quarter finals in those world cups meaning 7 times on 7 they have lost in the knock out games. Only 2 times in 2003 & 2019 they failed to make it to the knock out stage.
New Zealand on the other hand have also been a perennial short hand in knockout phases. They had reached the semifinals for the 5th straight time in 2023 but not able to even convert one of those into titles. Overall they have been at least into the semifinals on 8 occasions and finals twice in 13 World Cups but still don't have an ODI world cup to boast of.
Another team England who have a pretty poor record in finals turned it around by winning their first final on their 4th occasion albeit in a tied game decided by a super over on boundary count.
Looking at another team sport like Rugby, England have a similar poor record in the finals having won only once despite making the finals on 4 occasions. Ireland which is currently ranked as the best in the world currently have had perpetual heartbreak in the quarterfinals having not surpassed that stage 8 times. It almost seems as if they are cursed from not making it beyond the quarters. France has been another unlucky side losing all 3 finals they have played. The most impressive record however in Rugby happens to be the South African Springboks who unlike their cricketing counterparts the Proteas enjoy an enviable 4 out of 4 wins in the finals making them the most successful side in Rugby history. The All Blacks who are the next most successful with 3 titles have unfortunately lost both their finals to the same South African side.
Coming to football, Brazil has been the most successful in World Cups winning an unprecedented 5 titles. The next on the list is just 3 by Germany, Italy and Argentina. France who have won 2 titles in the last 25 years have also faced heartbreak losing 2 very close finals.
Thus, when it comes to team sports it's not necessarily been the most consistent and best side that has always won it but in fact the team which raises their ultimate game in the do or die crucial knock out stages. Most World Cups come down to winning just 2 matches viz the semifinal and the final and that is where some teams have faltered big time whereas certain sides soak the pressure and have that stone grind attitude to find a way how to win. South Africa in the Rugby World Cup 2023 in fact won their quarter final, semifinal and final each by just one point. Australia's record of 6 ODI titles in a total of 13 played is gut wrenching sensational considering that wins have come across different continents. It would perhaps rank as the greatest ever achievement by a sporting nation though it has to be factored in that only a few countries play cricket and even a lesser few have a stake at the trophy. Brazil's football tally of 5 is impressive though they haven't really come close to winning one in the last two decades.
Harping back to the post, it's ultimately just those tiny little moments that decide the outcome of not just a match but also a world championship. India's remarkable run in this World Cup in addition to their breathtaking form in world events over the course of the last decade hasn't yielded them any eventual final outcome. The luck factor and destiny also plays a huge role as it can be seen that India with a much weaker side of the past were able to spin off 3 major titles between 2007-2013 despite the performances in the other interim events not really being satisfactory.
On the whole it's just the fine margins. To break this long standing curse, it looks likely that luck and destiny also needs to go hand in hand along with the performances to bail the team out on those crunch tense finishes.
Sharing below a list of all ICC World cricketing events held in the men's game from the inception in 1975 with the winners and runner up in each edition. These are considered as the Big 4 tournaments with the ODI World Cup having a history of nearly half a century, Champions Trophy which began towards the end of the nineteenth century looks likely to be discontinued in the near future, the current most popular T20 World Cup which also gets held every biennial year and the most recent World Test Championship which commenced recently after years of planning.
ODI World Cups
1) 1975 ODI WC - WI def Aus
2) 1979 ODI WC - WI def Eng
3) 1983 ODI WC - Ind def WI
4) 1987 ODI WC - Aus def Eng
5) 1992 ODI WC - Pak def Eng
6) 1996 ODI WC - SL def Aus
7) 1999 ODI WC - Aus def Pak
8) 2003 ODI WC - Aus def Ind
9) 2007 ODI WC - Aus def SL
10) 2011 ODI WC - Ind def SL
11) 2015 ODI WC - Aus def NZ
12) 2019 ODI WC - Eng def NZ
13) 2023 ODI WC - Aus def Ind
Total: Aus won 6, WI & Ind - 2, Pak, SL and Eng - 1
Champions Trophy
1) 1998 CT - SA def WI
2) 2000 CT - NZ def Ind
3) 2002 CT - SL & Ind joint winners
4) 2004 CT - WI def Eng
5) 2006 CT - Aus def WI
6) 2009 CT - Aus def NZ
7) 2013 CT - Ind def Eng
8) 2017 CT - Pak def Ind
Total: Aus & Ind - 2, SA, NZ, SL, WI, Pak - 1
T20 World Cup
1) 2007 T20 WC - Ind def Pak
2) 2009 T20 WC - Pak def SL
3) 2010 T20 WC - Eng def Aus
4) 2012 T20 WC - WI def SL
5) 2014 T20 WC - SL def Ind
6) 2016 T20 WC - WI def Eng
7) 2021 T20 WC - Aus def NZ
8) 2022 T20 WC - Eng def Pak
Total: Eng & WI - 2, Ind, Pak, SL, Aus - 1
World Test Championship
1) 2021 WTC - NZ def Ind
2) 2023 WTC - Aus def Ind
Total: NZ & Aus - 1
Overall Total Count of Big 4 ICC Trophies
Aus - 10
Ind - 5
WI - 5
Pak - 3
SL - 3
Eng - 3
NZ - 2
SA - 1
It is pretty evident that Australia stands on top of the pile with 10 ICC World tournament victories. They are also the only side to have claimed all the Big 4 titles and have an extremely superior record hold especially in the ODI World Cups.
Australia have actually leap frogged in a big way over the last decade with double ODI trophies, a T20 WC win and also a Test Championship. Australia was 6 and India 5 before the ODI World Cup 2015 and since then Australia have scalped 4 more and raced away to double digit men's world titles. Purely taking finals, Australia have won 10 out of 13 finals played compared to India who have won only 5 out of 12 finals participated.
India on the other hand have been gravely unlucky. Nine times in the last 10 events they have reached the semifinals or finals. If they had at least converted the finals into victories, they would now be having about 9 titles in the kitty but the sad truth is they have not added to the 5 which they did over 10 years ago in the Champions Trophy of 2013. It clearly articulates Australia's big match temperament as they have been absolutely masterclass in finals not having lost a single final in their last 4 shots at the trophy. In today's era chances of winning world titles is much more than the bygone times purely because one has more opportunities. A 3 format player has a chance of a T20 WC and a WTC coming every alternate year. India's golden era of players have records absolutely to be proud of but when it comes down to team sport, they seem to be constantly falling at the final hurdle. There are 3 more chances coming up within the next one and half years viz the T20 WC 2024, CT 2025 and WTC 2025. It's a good chance to add extra titles but its essential that teams like India don't choke in the knock out games and end this unsavory precedent of not winning a singular world title despite being such a formidable and highly competitive side.
