Fate, and England’s fine cricket, have decreed that the T20 World Cup final will not be the most-watched sporting event on the planet this year.
India could not rise to the semi-final occasion that would bring a rematch of their round-one blockbuster with Pakistan, a preliminary skirmish at the MCG that felt like a final. The great sporting bowl has hosted some truly special matches and events, from the Olympic Games to the sellout Women’s T20 World Cup final in 2020.
Viewing figures are rubbery in this online world, but they may have even been in the hundreds of millions. An India-Pakistan final would have multiplied that number. The International Cricket Council, and the cricket world in general, could rejoice in the importance of the sport.
England began this tournament as the favourites and will enter the final as such, given their emphatic 10-wicket victory over India on Thursday night. The Irish will be celebrating over a quiet Guinness knowing they have beaten a World Cup finalist, and maybe even the champion.
The expectations in the homeland for an Indian victory were immense, but that is the case whenever they play, no matter what the format. This, however, was a World Cup semi-final with the prospect of a partition battle replayed three days hence.
I had the unique perspective of observing the India fans watch the match on the multiple screens inside the Kempegowda International Airport at Bangalore. My view of the screens at boarding gates chopped and washed as the waiting passengers, five and six deep, pushed and tunnelled for a vantage spot, their boarding passes of no use. I followed the game mostly by sound.
England dispatched India in brutal fashion in their World Cup semi-final.Credit:Getty
KL Rahul edging Chris Woakes early was marked by a collective groan, plus a side order of grinding teeth. KL being a Bangalore native – his face adorns several of the massive advertising hoardings on the highway into the city – the dismissal was taken personally. There was generous applause for singles edged to third man, and a boundary to Rohit Sharma after several miscues was greeted with outright applause, although laced mutterings in Telugu suggested that the crowd understood that Rohit was not timing the ball well and his demise didn’t come as a complete surprise.
Liam Livingstone’s effectiveness with his part-time leggies evoked whispers and gesticulations; more shots were being played by the watchers than the players. Groans and head-shaking were common with each falling wicket and, when Virat Kohli sliced Chris Jordan to gully, there was a rare occurrence in India: complete silence, save for the clinking of Kingfisher bottles from the ubiquitous Irish bar. There didn’t appear to be a single England fan on the concourse at gate 15, or if there was then they were sensible enough to keep it to themselves.
Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Panya restored shouting volume with long sixes and generated high fives between octogenarians and small children. As Rishabh Pant and Ravi Ashwin strode off Adelaide Oval, the game half-done, their departures precipitated a flurry to departure gates as the terminal PA made “last call” announcements for several flights; not that the call mattered much as air crew and ground staff were all watching the game.
Fans and passengers flew off to Guwahati, Delhi and Mangalore with the high hopes that India’s total of 168 was enough. My flight to Chennai was delayed an hour due to “high air traffic volume”, but, coincidently, just enough time to watch the complete English run chase.
But no one was complaining, and we got to see if Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneswar Kumar’s new-ball prowess could hold Jos Buttler and Alex Hales.
Sadly, the Kempegowda crowd was kept subdued by England’s power play, middle overs and the premature finish. The upside was four overs less of commercials for mobile plans and motorbikes, and the flight gets away 20 minutes earlier.
The quieted crowd moped towards departure gates well before the finish. Young, old or middle-aged, these people know their cricket, and they can see a loss galloping towards them.
Concourse A didn’t return to the pre-match thrum and clatter as conversations turned to murmurs of disappointment, although not of disaffection. How much they willed an Indian victory and hence a repeat of the 2007 final.
Whose side will they take in the final? They will still watch the game, after all it is a cricket match. They won’t be neutral in this contest. Can the partitioned nations come together through their mutual love of a game, or will the architects of division be favoured?
Pakistan’s Babar Azam has hit his straps at the right time.Credit:AP
Pakistan can win anywhere, anytime. Their run to the final has been perfectly in line with expectations: eclectic, brilliant and relying on the Netherlands to get through. You can’t write that
stuff.
Babar Azam coming good at the most important time will bolster their group psyche and the belief of a nation. There won’t be many planes flying out of Jinnah or Allama Iqbal airports on Sunday
morning, and those waiting for flights will be stacked around the departure gate monitors, just as they had been in Bangalore.
England are powering like winners. Not content to drive conservatively towards the semi-final win, they put India on the canvass early: 10 wickets and four overs is a serious smacking. The end was swift. Fearless cricket indeed.
The final contest provides a contrast in styles and content, which makes picking a winner too difficult.
Maybe the victory here is for instinct and improvisation over process and statistics? No India team to break viewing records, but two high-class teams worthy of the MCG.
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Watch the Twenty20 World Cup final between Pakistan and England live and free on 9GEM and 9Now on Sunday from 6.30pm.
