Aussies are the world champions, and there's no denying that fact. New Zealand would have loved playing against their frenemy in the finals, but they were clearly outclassed in the game. Sure, they would have missed Vettori and many others who could have contributed, but for their injuries. But that does not take anything away from the victory that Australia etched out.
Teams like South Africa, India and Sri Lanka didn't make to the semis despite being great on paper and being in form. The 'play a game, win you're in, lose you're out' format didn't do them any good, but the same held true for other teams as well.
Pakistan - the pariahs of cricket - played well as a unit and demonstrated their capabilities to the hilt, but coulddn't make it to the last stage. A lot has been written & discussed about umpiring decisions that probably cost them the right to play the finals, and a chance at winning the trophy. Right or wrong umpiring decisions are a part & parcel of the game and there shouldn't be any bad blood over that. You win some, you lose some.
For me, the two teams of the tournament have to be England and West Indies.
England surprised one and all to set up a semi-final clash with the Aussies, which was great on their part. Coming from a horrible 6-1 beating in ODIs at the hands of Australia, they really regrouped well to play a great tournament, without betraying any lack of confidence.
The West Indies, the second rung team that was hastily put together by their board, came into the tournament as babes in the woods, but held their heads high all through. They fought bravely, ignoring the pressure of many giants of cricket who they were up against, and gave their fans a lot to cheer about.
Other than the Aussies, who finally won the trophy, the tournament has thrown up many likely champions (teams as well as individuals) that cricket fans the world over will look out for in the future. All in all, it was good cricket and a great tournament.
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
