Ireland thrashed West Indies, and were then given an almighty scare by the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan, who beat Scotland to send a nation into raptures, might have accounted for Sri Lanka as well had they been a little sharper in the field. Scotland gave New Zealand a fright. For a fortnight, this had been a World Cup where the little guys refused to have sand kicked in their faces.
Then, India came along. Party poopers. Their match against UAE lasted two balls more than the duration of one innings. It was the result that those hankering for a 10-team World Cup in 2019 – objects of so much ridicule and anger since the tournament began – had been desperate for.
India do not like the little guys, and with good reason. MS Dhoni, in particular, will never forget 17 March 2007. The rest of the cricketing world might recall the date because of the Ireland-Pakistan game at Sabina Park that was the precursor to Bob Woolmer’s tragic death. Across the Caribbean, in Trinidad, there was another upset, as Bangladesh beat India. Eight days later, Rahul Dravid’s men would lose to Sri Lanka and board an early flight home.
When India lost a home Test series to England in late 2012, Dhoni had this to say: “It has been tough, but there are not many things that will come close to when we lost the 2007 50-over World Cup. This is not even close to that.” This, remember, was a man who had presided over 4-0 humiliations in England and Australia and then surrendered an unbeaten home record that went back nearly a decade.
Dhoni was not talking of the pain of defeat alone. He was referring to the media overreaction that resulted in players’ houses being defaced and their characters being assassinated. Already tenuous ties between the cricket team and the fourth estate were irreparably damaged. Those cameras that sought out effigies and mock funerals effectively killed off access to the team for everyone else.
When Dhoni said what he did in 2012, the immediate reaction was to slam him for not respecting Test cricket enough. But he was right. That defeat did not come close to 2007. Nothing ever will. What he put into words that day in Nagpur was the mindset of the average Indian cricket fan. Bilateral tours matter, and most supporters want to see India do well across formats. But the World Cup is the holy grail, the tournament where you measure yourself against global opposition. For a young democracy that has wrestled with feelings of insecurity for much of the past six decades, worldwide bragging rights count far more than a Test match or four. You can be snooty about that if you like, but it is not going to change how the fans feel.
After what happened against Bangladesh eight years ago, there was not the slightest chance of India easing up in Perth, even after beating Pakistan and South Africa. The new-ball bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav – Kumar got his chance with Mohammed Shami resting a slight niggle – took only a wicket apiece, but the UAE innings never gathered the slightest bit of momentum as Ravichandran Ashwin summoned up his best ODI figures (four for 25). His wrist position has improved markedly in the past month and with the Fremantle Doctor blowing across the ground, he was almost able to swing the ball into the batsmen before getting sharp turn and bounce.
The middle order had no answers to his variations, and Shaiman Anwar, who made a sprightly 35 from No6, was the only batsman to pass 15. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli knocked off the runs with ease, after Shikhar Dhawan had cut one uppishly to backward point.
Many of the associate nations have asked for greater exposure against the established sides, with Mohammad Tauqir, the UAE captain, asking – with some justification – why no one played against his team when they toured the Middle East to play Pakistan. But if Tauqir expected support from his opposite number, he would have been desperately disappointed.
“Not against India,” said Dhoni firmly when asked about the need for teams like UAE to play more games. “I don’t see even a few days off to play any more cricket than what we play. If you see the cricket fraternity, the nations, they have a calendar of 12 months in which they play a lot of Test matches and ODIs. I don’t know what’s the number.
“Our calendar is nine and a half months because in the other two and a half months, we play the IPL and the Champions League. And yet, we match every other Test-playing nation when it comes to the number of Test matches and ODI cricket. I don’t see India playing any more games.”
Forget kicking sand in their faces. India don’t even want the little guys on the same beach.
