One-day cricket is alive and well

Partab Ramchand

Their reign at the top was over said the cynics.

It was only a matter of time before South Africa or India displaced them as the numero uno team in one-day cricket, they predicted.

But the detractors did not know the resilience and the bench strength of the Australian team.

Any other team which suffered the crippling blows that the Aussies had to endure following the retirement of one stalwart after another in a span of a year or two would have slid down the ladder. But the Aussies are made of sterner stuff.

What Dhoni can learn from Ponting

Shrugging off the loss of the Ashes - which must have been a major disappointment for them - Ricky Ponting and his team quickly put the setback behind him and started the climb back up the ladder.

A 6-1 drubbing of England put them in the right frame of mind for the tougher test that the Champions Trophy had on offer and they stamped the seal on their superiority by retaining the title they won three years ago in India.

Only the World Twenty20 trophy eludes them, and I am sure the Aussies have their sights firmly on lifting it in the Caribbean next year.

Barring a no-result against India - a rain-ruined match in which the batsmen performed admirably - the Aussies defeated Pakistan, West Indies, England and New Zealand en route to the title.

The manner in which they held their nerve to get the better of Pakistan, then rode roughshod over England and finally overcame a shocking start to register a comfortable victory over New Zealand in the title clash all underscored the fact that despite the retirements of several greats in the last couple of years, the Aussies remain the No 1 team in this format.

Lessons for Team India

The triumph was shaped by a whole new set of young players and as Ponting said it was great to see them stand up and deliver. The rebuilding process is almost complete and when the few rough edges have been smoothened out, it could be another era of Aussie dominance again.

Credit is also due to New Zealand, who proved that a team without big names can still deliver while playing as a fighting unit.

Their resolve was commendable, for, in the first place, they were not fancied to make it to the semifinal from the tougher group that included South Africa, Sri Lanka and England, and then they were beset by injury problems which saw them without several key players.

But led admirably by Daniel Vettori, they not only made it to the semifinals, but also topped the group and then got the better of favourites Pakistan before going down to the more fancied Aussies in the final. How much the non-availability of Vettori for this match affected their chances will continue to remain a subject for debate as he was worth his weight in gold in his triple role - doughty batsman, skilful bowler and shrewd skipper.

While the tournament ended along predictable lines with the Aussie triumph, it must be said that the exit at the preliminary stage of South Africa, India and Sri Lanka, three of the more fancied teams, and the emergence of England and New Zealand as strong contenders was quite unexpected. England had been routed by Australia just before landing in South Africa, but raising the level of their game, they made it to the semifinals from a really tough group, but were no match for the Aussies in the semis.

Pakistan lived up to their reputation of being an unpredictable side.

They were third favourites behind Australia and India from their group to make it to the semifinals, but on the strength of that double-century partnership between Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf, they got the better of India, which meant a semifinal slot was assured. They were the fancied side in the penultimate round clash with New Zealand, but a middle- and late-order batting collapse meant that they were always going to be up against it and the Kiwis put it across them after surviving some anxious moments to go through to the title clash.

Dhoni fined for submitting incomplete form

The big disappointments of the tournament were South Africa, Sri Lanka and India.

On the eve of the competition, these three teams were fancied to make it to the semifinals, but inconsistency cost them dearly.

As for the West Indies, they were one side that never really had a chance and losing all three games was certainly no surprise. Even at full strength, these days they are but a shadow of the all-conquering team of the 80s, but with players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo around, they are capable of surprises like when they lifted the Champions Trophy in England in 2004 and made it to the final in India two years later. The present squad is a bunch of no-hopers, and it is to be hoped that the latest setback will bring the aggrieved parties to the negotiating table and a solution to the problem can be found at the earliest in the best interests of West Indian cricket.

The sixth edition of the Champions Trophy was conducted amid growing concerns about the future of ODIs what with the shortest format of the game catching the fancy of the cricket follower like nothing else before it.

The paramount lesson driven home by the successful conduct of the tournament is that one-day cricket is alive and well.

The cynics who questioned the very survival of ODIs in the wake of the raging popularity of Twenty20 cricket were made to eat humble pie by the on-field happenings during the two-week long tournament that saw many outstanding performances, unexpected results, keen contests and - most important - the spirit of cricket being upheld by sporting gestures.

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