How the 2015 World Cup was about a "Mauka" for everyone
It has been almost a week since the Australian skipper, Michael Clarke, lifted the World Cup 2015 trophy at the MCG and the euphoria over the cup is slowly settling down. The official ICC statement declares this edition to be the most popular ever and they have given supporting stats for this – record number of spectators, double centuries, hat-tricks among others.
Now, I am not here to challenge ICC’s claim. As they say, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”, similarly everyone might have his/her own favourite edition. Taking the tag line from star sports ad campaign, for me this world cup was all about “Mauka Mauka” (opportunity).
Mauka Mauka for teams
For the protagonist of this campaign – Pakistan, it was an opportunity to end their losing streak against arch rivals India in world cup matches. Whereas for defending champions India, it was an opportunity to erase the memories of a painful tour of Australia and they did remarkably well winning six matches on the trot. They lost out to eventual champions Australia in the semifinals.
For teams like South Africa and New Zealand it was the perfect stage to break the jinx of knock out matches in world cup matches. The team from Nelson Mandela’s land did well to shred the tag of chokers although they faltered in the semifinals against the Kiwis. New Zealand, on their part, were the team which won maximum hearts during the tournament. Led by the aggressive Brendon Mccullum they entered the finals for the first time in their cricketing history.
It was also a golden opportunity for the lowly ranked teams like Bangladesh, Ireland, and Afghanistan to prove that they can compete against the big boys. In this regard, these teams did exceptionally well with Bangladesh reaching the knock out stages and Ireland defeating two-time world champion West Indies. These teams presented a good case in front of the ICC to reconsider their decision of reducing the number of teams to ten in the next edition.
One-last chance for old warhorses
“Mauka-Mauka” was not just limited to the teams; this edition like many of the previous ones presented one final opportunity for many individuals as well. It was the last chance for old warhorses like Michael Clarke, Kumara Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardhane, Daniel Vettori, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq to have one final crack at the trophy. Sangakkara was in the form of his life hitting four consecutive centuries and Misbah proved to be the lone warrior for Pakistan.
But the man who made the most of this opportunity was the Australian skipper Clarke. He emulated Imran Khan’s feat by lifting the World Cup in his last one-day international. His team ensured that MS Dhoni will not make a Wankhede out of MCG.
Who’ll seize the Mauka in England in 2019?
In four years’ time, the tournament returns to the home of cricket – England. It would be too early to predict if Australia will retain the trophy or who will be the players that survive till the next edition. Some will go, many new stars will be born but the only thing that will remain would be the “mauka” or the opportunity to excel at the game’s pinnacle event.