India’s World Cup win – the secret ingredient

I have won many trophies in my time, but nothing will ever top helping win the battle for peace in my country. Ivorian footballer Didier Drogba.

At the outset, I must emphasize that I was not really planning to write about cricket as I had already done so just a few weeks ago, and most of us are probably fed to the back teeth on the subject. However, needs must. I wish to touch upon an aspect of the game that might have escaped the attention of most cricket aficionados.

Let me tell you what was the most significant factor that contributed to India’s winning the T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad last week. Oh, all right, you go first. Sanju Samson? Good try but no. Just a few games ago, our selectors did not want to know about Samson. Now he is the best thing since sliced bread – the fickle nature of sport. Jasprit Bumrah? That’s an even better try, a no-brainer but again, no can do. Ishan Kishan’s belligerence or Shivam Dube’s explosive cameos? Axar Patel’s electric fielding? Look pal, I have already said no to the prime contenders Sanju and Jasprit. Let’s get serious. Next thing, you will be telling me it was our unsmiling coach Gautam Gambhir’s implacable strategy and vision that was the key to misfiring captain, Suryakumar Yadav’s (SKY to his friends) calm leadership that won us the cup. All else failing, you will stress on the benign, batting paradise of a pitch which our batsmen ravenously feasted on, having been generously invited to take first strike. Balderdash. Can’t you think out of the box? Why did the New Zealanders unravel spectacularly on that same strip?

Give up? For crying out loud, India’s lifting the coveted trophy had nothing to do with anyone who was present at the Narendra Modi stadium where battle was joined with the hapless Kiwis and won handsomely by the home team. I gave you a big hint there. Still don’t get it? You are beyond help. Then let me spoon-feed you. It had nix to do with anyone who was actually present at the big game. It was the conspicuous absence of our Prime Minister at the venue that clinched the deal! The secret ingredient that was not added. Remember what happened in November 2023 at the same venue? We played against Australia in the final of the ODI 50-over World Championship. At the starting gates India were firm favourites and fully expected to win under Rohit Sharma’s stewardship, home advantage with massive blue-shirted support and the icing on the cake; the PM’s inspiring presence.

The PM landed up all right, all togged up for the occasion, resplendent in a spanking electric blue waistcoat, with a blue and orange-bordered gamcha meticulously slung over his shoulders, matching the Indian team’s colour code and spotless white kurta, to give our boys all the morale-boosting encouragement any national leader would give up his parliamentary seat to provide. Just think of the photo-op. And what happened? The spanking electric blue outfit, far from providing the desired impetus, culminated in a sound spanking at the hands of Australia that completely silenced the 100,000+ crowd. The Aussies won in a canter showing a clean pair of heels to the unfortunate Rohit Sharma and his straggling charges. The Prime Minister’s opportunistic and vicariously hoped-for pride and joy was short lived. Instead, he was reduced to generously lending his broad, consoling shoulders in the players’ dressing room for all the Indian cricketers to lean on and shed copious tears. He came, he saw and did not quite conquer but that was not his fault. The stars were not properly aligned. Congratulations turned to commiserations. That did not prevent Rahul Gandhi from pouncing on the main chance and rubbing it in and dubbing the PM a ‘Panauti,’ one who is a bad omen!

So, as I am saying, Mr. Modi’s decision to abstain from this year’s T20 World Cup final at the eponymously named colosseum in Ahmedabad, was one of his best decisions. And lest we forget, he had plenty to tackle on his plate – Trump, Netanyahu, Trump, Putin, Trump, Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei, Trump, Hormuz Straits, Trump, oil, gas, Rahul Gandhi, Om Birla, Trump and all the Opposition party members baying for his blood. Had our PM been aware, which I doubt very much, of that old Pete Seeger folk song, he would have rephrased it, singing sotto voce to himself, ‘Where have all the tariffs gone?’

Everything said and done, Mr. Modi’s wisdom and sagacity, by not putting in an appearance at a cricket match, thus ensuring the cameras at the stadium stayed focused on the players and not on him (had he attended) is to be lauded. The cameras did turn, now and then to our Home Minister’s son and heir, ICC boss Jay Shah and past captains Kapil Dev, M.S. Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, not to mention the inevitable odd industrialist and Bollywood star, but that was par for the course. In any case, in the absence of the ubiquitous Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli who were engaged elsewhere, Dhoni, Rohit and Kapil Dev were inspirational images on screen. After all they were the ones who shepherded India’s previous World Cup victories.

Notwithstanding all that, it is a given that the triumphant Indian cricketers will be invited soon to the Prime Minister’s residence for tea at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. The TV and still cameras will be working overtime, have no fear. This is in keeping with time-honoured tradition. Quite recently, our women cricketers won the ICC Women’s World Cup for the first time and were sumptuously feted by the PM at his residence. To give the man credit, he had done his homework on each and every one of the girls and asked them specific questions pertaining to their lives, their families and other titbits that had the likes of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandana, Deepti Sharma, Jemima Rodrigues, Shefali Varma and others totally floored. It was a memorable evening our ‘sheroes’ will never forget. Expect more of the same when SKY and his boys turn up for dhokla, khandvi, thepla, sukhdi and tea or rose milk with Mr. Modi.

At least we in India should be grateful our leaders do not behave the way the FBI Director Kash Patel celebrated in the locker room of the U.S. hockey team after they garnered the gold medal at the recently concluded Winter Olympics in Milan. Against Trump’s new bête noire, Canada. Holding a bottle of beer, he was seen jumping up and down in wild ecstasy, yelling and screaming, while the rest of the ‘jock’ hockey team joined him in an orgy of bacchanalian celebration. Frankly, it was all very testosterone-driven and not in the least bit becoming of a man holding such high office in supposedly ‘the world’s most powerful country.’ That said, Kash Patel is one of Trump’s hand-picked men and this kind of conduct is only to be expected. Not that he has anything remotely to do with India, but many Indians, particularly those from our Prime Minister’s home state, dearly wish this American Patel’s ancestors did not hail from Gujarat. We would not have batted an eyelid if Bollywood star Randhir ‘Dhurandhar’ Kapoor did a few energetic dance steps in the dressing room with our boys after the win, but we expect decorum to characterise political leaders in a similar setting. If that means proffering a shoulder to cry on, be they tears of joy or sadness, so be it.

In conclusion, it would be ideal if our Prime Minister desists from attending future cricket matches and similar. Bad joss. Let him watch the game from home, and depending on the result, he can decide if he wishes to host the team at his sylvan gardens. Or not. More to the point, we are more likely to win, as we have just witnessed, if he does not grace the game with his presence: even if the venue bears his name. Not for nothing did the poet say, ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder.’