Cricket World Cup 2023: England, New Zealand kick off extravaganza with the ‘Greatest final of all time’ still fresh in memory | Cricket-world-cup News
As Eoin Morgan, England’s ODI World Cup-winning captain-turned pundit, walked into the captain’s roundtable in Ahmedabad, Ravi Shastri asked him whether he had dispensed any advice to his successor Jos Buttler. Giggling, Morgan replied in jest: “I told him don’t mess it up.” But assuming a graver voice, he said; “I just told Jos Buttler to be Jos Buttler. Be yourself, do not copy anybody.”
Buttler’s men embellished England’s ICC trophy cabinet winning the T20 World Cup last year, and have lived Morgan’s relentless-aggression ideals. But they land in India without the aura of defending white-ball champions in both formats, with niggles, concerns and without the ruthless quest for the title Morgan’s men displayed. Post the transformational Morgan era, England have won only half of their 14 bilateral 50-over series. Four of them were against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ireland and the Netherlands. Buttler’s own captaincy record is unflattering, having won a little more than half of the games he has captained in (14 of 27). In the last four years, they have played less than half the number of matches (42) that Morgan’s men had (88) in the four-year-cycle before that, after picking England from its “lowest ebb”, according to Morgan. They have scored runs as fast as Morgan’s men did though, between 6.20 and 6.30 runs an over. Their Australian white-ball coach Matthew Mott, though not as fashionable as his Test counterpart Brendon McCullum, has not diluted the dose of aggression he inherited.
That, though, does not imply that England are the shab bunch of the mid- and late 90s. There is considerable firepower and experience — they have a combined experience of 971 ODIs and all but two members have not lifted some kind of World Cup trophy; 11 of their 15 are well into their 30s — with all but Gus Atkinson having not experienced international cricket in Asia. There is diversity in Adil Rashid’s wr-spin and the whirring speed of Mark Wood. Apart from three left-arm seamers, a clever seamer in Chris Woakes and spin-bowling all-rounders in Moeen Ali (off-spin) and Liam Livingstone (all sorts). Joe Root and Harry Brook too could be summoned. A setback though is the injury to all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was cajoled back from retirement, though the physios are doing overtime to get him back to peak fitness soon.
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Irresible though is the impression that this could be the last 50-over concert for this incredible band of white-ball virtuosos. Most of them could be pundits or coaches the time the next edition winks in. Riding a similar curve is New Zealand, the men of valour England defeated the thinnest of margins in the final four years ago. They too are an ageing side; their talismanic captain and most experienced seam bowler are sweating over injuries. Neither Williamson nor Southee, 33 and 34 respectively, are likely to be around for another World Cup. So is Trent Boult, 34; nine others are 30 or 30-plus, making this their last bid to redeem successive defeats in World Cup finals. Their coach Gary Stead too has lost two ODI finals, both at Lord’s (in 2009 with the White Ferns and 2019 with the Black Caps).
Their recent form too has been patchy. This year, they have won only eight of the 20 ODIs they have played, losing a series apiece to India and Pakan. away, though they did beat Pakan and Bangladesh (away) later this year. No other overseas team has played as many 50-over games in the subcontinent as the Kiwis (15 of their 20 games). Their adjustment, thus, could be more seamless than other teams’. That they are perennial overachievers amounts to crude stereotyping. Here is a team that has reached the finals of the last two installments of the Cup, lost the semi-finals of the two before that, besides losing two semi-finals and a final of the past three T20 World Cups.The David-Goliath reference has acquired a condescending tone.
Thus, in many ways, the teams featuring in the most thrilling final are treading a similar path, two golden generations nearing the end of their dazzle, one desperate to cling onto the promised land and the other in last pursuit of the elusive land of promise. Nonetheless. their latest meeting has a tribute-to-the-greatest-final-ever feel.
