In what appeared to be a one-sided final, Spain beat defending champions Argentina to win the FIFA World Cup after a wait of 16 years. They were in possession of the ball far more than the Argentinians, who seemed a little listless. They also had more shots at goal than the champions. But for the classy defending of the Argentinian goalie, the scoreline would have been far more than the 1-0 that the game ended with.
The final whistle also saw some unsavoury scenes, with a fight breaking out between some Spanish reserve players and the Argentinian players. The Argentinians had played a pretty rough game as they tried to stop the storming Spanish attackers. That seemed to have spilt over after the final whistle.
The game once again showed why the Spanish League remains the best and most competitive league, though the English Premier League, backed by its media, gets more coverage by virtue of the English language being more widely used in most of the world.
England and last-time’s runners-up France did very well till they were beaten. Spain produced moments of magic, while Lionel Messi inspired Argentina into the final. While Argentina were left to rue the missed opportunities, the Indian cricket team also did not grab the chances they had of winning the one-day series with some poor fielding efforts.
People have been speaking about the Indian batters hammering the bowling on flat pitches and smaller boundaries in the IPL and then getting exposed in unfamiliar conditions in England. The fact is that there were flat pitches in India, alright, but it’s the ridiculously small boundaries that flatter the batter, whose mishits can clear the ropes, while in countries with bigger and longer boundaries these same hits are caught inside the boundary line.
It’s absolutely imperative, when the new Indian season begins, to get the boundary sizes increased so that our batters get used to that before the World Cup next year. At virtually every ground, there is plenty of space for people to walk behind the LED advertising boards, so it tells you that if this space is utilised, the boundary size will automatically increase. This will also give our spin bowlers the opportunity to bowl a bit slower so that they can get the loop and turn that a slower delivery produces. The medium-pace darters they currently bowl actually help the batter use the pace, get under the ball and power it into the stands. Adil Rashid and Will Jacks bowled almost 8 to 10 km/h slower than the Indian spinners and so were far more effective than them.
Disappointing though the results were for the Indian fan, there is a lot of hard work ahead for the team. A good, honest reflection on what the shortcomings were and how to overcome them is the need of the hour. Shot selection is very important and here the batter has to rein in his ego and not try to live up to an image, but play the ball on its merits. Yes, in the ultra-short format, the T20, it is not easy to do so as big shots are needed virtually every other delivery. But it is different in the ODI format, where there is time for a short period of settling down before the power shots are unfurled.
Above all, it’s necessary to play smart cricket. So, figure out the bowler who doesn’t need to be counter-attacked. Then target the bowlers against whom you can make up for the quiet over from the better bowler.
No team in the world has five top bowlers, and there will always be eight to 12 overs in a T20 game where the runs can be looted. Similarly, in the 50-over format, a little patience won’t hurt even if the team is chasing a big score like 380-plus.
Most of all, it’s mandatory that if a player is an average fielder, he has to be shown the door. There is simply no way a captain has to hide three or four players, hoping the ball won’t go anywhere near them. The bowlers also must look at the slow bouncer once again and see how cleverly Sam Curran used the slow, loopy deliveries.
As I said, there’s no need to press the emergency button as yet. However, there’s plenty of honest introspection needed. There also has to be a lot more thought put into the execution of each individual’s speciality if the Indian team is to get back to winning ways.
Published on Jul 27, 2026
