The first news wasn’t good, with Lakshya Sen losing to Lin Chun-yi to finish runner-up once again. It was his second final at the All England and he missed out again. That said, his effort has to be admired.
In tennis, the Majors are spread over two weeks, and men and women play on alternate days in the second week of the tournament. There is thus a day’s break between matches, and even if a men’s match has been won in five gruelling sets over many hours, the next day’s break does allow the body some recovery time.
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In badminton, which is even more energy-sapping and tournaments are played over four or five days, the players are playing every day, and if a match has gone to three games, then it is really tough for the body to be at 100 per cent the next day.
Lakshya had played all his previous matches for a total of over five hours, and in the semifinals, was beginning to cramp up. No wonder, in the final, he just wasn’t able to summon up the energy to combat his opponent.
While the timing of the final was probably more suited for the viewership in China and India, with the match starting around noon in England, it also meant less recovery time for the players, who would have had a tough semifinal the previous day.
Lakshya might want to take a leaf out of Rahul Dravid’s book, where the Karnataka and Indian great had his sweat and perspiration analysed to see what he needed to imbibe to lessen the effects of body cramping.
In cricket, which is played in the sun, particularly in India and Australia, the body loses a lot of sweat and liquid, and replenishing it is essential. Still, full marks to Lakshya for yet another final, and hopefully the winner’s medal will be around his neck sooner rather than later.
The gold medals were around the necks of the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian cricket team for the second consecutive time as they clinched the World Cup with an easy win in the final against New Zealand.
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New Zealand has always raised the level of its game in the world competitions, but just like it happened last year in the Champions Trophy, it was overwhelmed by an Indian unit that played some extraordinary cricket. With these two wins in the white-ball format, as well as the win in the Asia Cup in between the two ICC competitions, the Indian team is clearly the best white-ball team in the game today.
With players as accomplished as Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal unable to find a place in the squad, the depth of talent in Indian cricket is simply mind boggling. The recent win by the boys in the ICC Under-19 World Cup also promises that the talent tap will not run dry for a long time.
The Indian management and the think tank must be congratulated for their sagacity in showing faith in the squad, and despite the odd lack of form, their trust was repaid many times over by the players who were under scrutiny.
Sanju Samson is a prime example of how form can change in one innings. He was not even in the mix at the start of the tournament after a horrific time in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, just before the World Cup started. Rinku Singh’s father’s condition worsening before his demise meant that Rinku left the team to go and see him. While he did return to the team, the management thought it better not to play him and opted to bring back Samson. This meant there was a right and left-hand combination at the top of the batting order once again, and even as Abhishek Sharma faltered, Samson grabbed his chance and played three pearlers that would be remembered for years to come.
Purity of batting is generally a virtue in the longest format of the game, Test match cricket, and occasionally in the 50-over game, but hardly ever in the ultra-short format of the game. Samson provided that in all his three fifty-plus innings in playing classical cricket shots, along with some of the most imperious pulling and hooking seen in recent times. His pulling, off the fierce pace of Jofra Archer, was reminiscent of Viv Richards at his powerful best, though most of his batting is more like the Sri Lankan stylist Mahela Jayawardene.
Then, in the final, Abhishek Sharma came good with the quickest half-century in the T20 World Cup. Both the openers had, with their performances when it mattered most, justified the trust shown in them by the team’s brains trust.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Bumrah is a ‘once-in-a-century bowler’.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
The win was a true team performance. While there will always be a star performer, at various times in the game, someone or the other put their hand up when required.
In Ishan Kishan making an emphatic comeback to the team, Hardik Pandya being the enforcer with both bat and ball, the understated but destructive Shivam Dube hitting sixes for fun, and Tilak Varma and Axar Patel’s all-round energies, the team found players doing above what was asked of them. Varun Chakaravarthy and Arshdeep Singh, though expensive at times, kept on taking vital wickets.
No column, however, can end without mention of Jasprit Bumrah. Samson and many other teammates call him a ‘once-in-a-generation bowler’, but he is more of a ‘once-in-a-century bowler’, without whom it would have been very tough for India. Every time the ball was given to him, he just bamboozled the batters with the many tricks up his sleeve. It was sheer delight to see him create magic and leave even a well-set batter looking clueless.
Well, done India. You not only repeated and defeated history, but also in doing so, created new history which will be forever cherished by those fortunate to have witnessed it.
Published on Mar 09, 2026
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