After a pretty enduring tournament which had its fair share of moments to cherish, West Indies by far were the most entertaining side and at the end of it all, it can be safely said that the Caribbean Islands needed the silverware more than any other nation, given their recent upheaval off the field.
Coming back to cricket, the pitches were a bit disappointing in the recently concluded World Cup with some of them making batting almost impossible against square turners. One may argue that it is the fag end of the season here in India but given the fact that there was enough time to prepare for the pitches; the logic is a bit difficult to understand.
Also, making good pitches are not the most difficult thing in the world and although a balance between bat and ball should be maintained, some of the pitches like the one in Nagpur and in Kolkata were heavily in favour of the spinners. Leaving a little bit of grass not always means it will seam around or move around all throughout the day.
The grass sometimes helps to bind the surface and with proper pouring of water and exposure to sunlight, one can make a good track with a fair bit of carry for the faster bowlers. That would also get the spinners into play as the game progresses. Something BCCI should look into as making square turners will not produce great spinners just like leaving too much grass will not produce great fast bowlers.
The bowling was a revelation in the World Cup, as the Yorkers once again turned out to be the most effective ball along with the slower bouncer. The wide Yorkers were also in display and run scoring, at times were pretty challenging owing to the change of pace and variations that some of these bowlers had up their kitty.
The spinners had a very successful tournament with the ball turning, and some of them showed that they can be a great asset to their respective sides. Ish Sodhi and Mitchel Santner of New Zealand were brilliant, so were Imran Tahir for South Africa and Adil Rashid for England. Adam Zampa of Australia also had his fair share of moments, so did Samuel Badree. Surprisingly R Ashwin of India had a pretty ordinary tournament, going by his standards.
The real takeaways of the World Cup would be to the way game has shown us that if you get the basics right, you can succeed in this format too. Virat Kohli batted all throughout the tournament without trying anything fancy and Joe Root played all the shots that any batsman would love to play at the Test level. Only time Root messed it up was when tried to play the dilscoop against West Indies and in the process lost his wicket at a crucial stage in the final.
But the thing which has not changed is the bats that are getting bigger and bigger and the boundaries smaller and smaller. May be the time has come for ICC to intervene and set the balance of the game right.
