The world has moved on, the excitement is dying down, England can no more be called the country that invented the game but has never been a world champion, New Zealand has put the underdog tag to rest, South Africa do not choke anymore and Bangladesh will be the team to watch in the next decade.
There is a stark difference in the way this world cup has separated teams that have prepared to win from the teams that have not prepared and from the teams that came to the event and woke up to see what they can do.
There are two teams that have least tinkered their batting order and fittingly they have appeared in the finals. New Zealand made least number of changes to their batting order and England persisted with their batting order but for the injury scare to Jason Roy. There are two teams that had at least one position in confusion and tried out combinations – again they have reached the top four and were eliminated in tense semi – finals. India suffered the ignominy of being eliminated from the semi finals for the second consecutive edition just because of their lack of commitment to a settled number 4 and a perfect position for their MVP. Australia on the other hand always had a problem with their all rounder slot which was more of a musical chair of bits and pieces T20 players than a reminiscence of a Bevan or least a Shane Lee – a game that is a great leveller just gave them a taste of how it is like to be eliminated in a semi – final. Q E D – teams that had a settled batting line up reaped better dividends than teams that hoped that their batting order would settle down.
This world cup has been touted to be a run fest with small grounds and flat decks. It became a challenge for the bowlers all around the world. Innovation was at its best with bowlers specializing slow bouncers, Cutters and Yorkers, however only those teams made an impact where the bowlers hunted in pairs. Kiwis had the best combinations of hunting in pairs while Indians excelled in their roles that they have specialized over a period of time. Teams like Srilanka, Pakistan failed to hunt in pairs consistently and the other teams failed to find a winning combination in their bowling attacks. Tom Moody rightly pointed out at the journey of Sunrisers Hyderabad that good batting line ups win matches but it is the good bowling attacks that win you tournaments. Undoubtedly the two champion teams had champion bowling attacks.
A fitting finale has showcased the progress of New Zealand and England as an ODI Super Power. Coming to the rule of boundaries to decide a winner, both the teams challenged the ICC with a scenario which they planned for but never expected to happen. Poetically, cricket is a massive winner and it is very good for the ODI cricket in the era of slam bang T20.
-Sairam Chavali
Pure Cricket 
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