Why India's Champions Trophy win felt hollow

The Guardian

12-03-2025

They can tear you apart with a thousand incisive cuts or systematically grind you down to a fine powder. They have a bottomless well of talent with multiple world class options in every position. Winning is not only expected but demanded, both from within the camp and throughout their legions of loyal supporters that have turned them into a commercial behemoth.
No, not India, who eased past New Zealand to claim the Champions Trophy this weekend. We're talking about Ricky Ponting's Australia. Actually, it's Clive Lloyd's West Indians. Or should that be Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, Richie McCaw's All Blacks, or the Americans under Christie Rampone, Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe?
All sporting dynasties share common traits. It's not just that they win, but that their winning feels inevitable. They win ugly and they win beautifully. They might not foster much love beyond their own fanbase but there is no denying that they are respected. The rest of us can't help but feel a little jealous when yet another trophy is added to the pile.
Rohit Sharma's India are slightly different. They have all the right ingredients, and their record of 23 wins from their previous 24 matches in ICC events puts them in the conversation for the greatest white-ball outfit of all time. But rather than elicit admiration, their latest conquest has been largely met with shrugs of indifference. The loaded dice, the gerrymandering of the tournament's schedule, the endless riches, the stadium announcer acting as a cheerleader at a venue that was ostensibly neutral; this all combined to bleach the romance from their achievement.
Worst of all was the sight of Jay Shah, the chair of the International Cricket Council and the most powerful man in the game, winking at the cameras after dishing out hugs and high-fives to the victorious players after their four-wicket win. Shah is evidently a proud Indian, was the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India for five years and is the son of Narendra Modi's right hand man, but this smacked of naked favouritism. Say what you want about Gianni Infantino, but it's hard to imagine the head of Fifa acting with the same lack of self-awareness if Switzerland were to win the European Championship.
To point out that India now effectively runs global cricket is to state the obvious. After two seasons in the red, Cricket South Africa reported profits of £34.5m for the 2023-24 financial year after an all-format visit of India. 'In the four-year cycle there will be two or three years where we make quite massive losses,' said CSA's chief executive, Pholetsi Moseki. 'But there should be at least one year where we make significant profit so it can cover us in the years where we make those losses.'
India's influence extends beyond the international game. Teams in five domestic leagues, including all six in the SA20 in South Africa, are little more than satellite projects of Indian Premier League franchises. As Moseki added, 'India is too important in the cricket ecosystem for all members, including the ICC itself. India will continue being an important touring team for all countries. To try to divorce yourself from India is not realistic for any country.'
Does this give India the right to call the shots in cricket? Can anyone do anything besides 'cry more', as zealous Indian fans have suggested on social media, when a team that do not need any help winning trophies get to play all their tournament matches in one stadium while the rest of the competition is forced to zigzag across Asia?
Empires don't tend to treat rebels with leniency and any board that stands up to India alone would probably find themselves alienated and destitute. But what if every other board, including England and Australia, collectively drew a line in the sand? Could the rest of the cricket world prove Moseki wrong and survive without the most powerful entity in the sport?
Leaders of European nations are contemplating a similar dilemma as they make plans to shore up the continent's security without the support of Donald Trump's US. This column won't weigh in on matters that are far more serious than the fate of a leather ball, but as prime ministers, presidents and generals met in Brussels last week to assess Europe's battlefield capabilities, it's worth playing with a parallel hypothetical.
As of last year, under the ICC's revamped revenue-distribution model, the BCCI now takes home nearly 40% of the governing body's net surplus earnings, amounting to roughly $230m annually. But that's still less than all the other boards, including 96 associate nations, added together. And even though England's share of 6.89% is a long way back in second place, if cricket were to act as a democracy rather than the plutocracy that it is, real change could be possible. India could be told to play fair or play on their own. Who knows, maybe they'd even reconsider the way funds are distributed to those in need rather than doling out crumbs only when they visit foreign lands.
Admittedly this is a pipe dream. And why should India give up what they've created? For most of cricket's history they lived under English and Australian influence. Now they're calling the shots. Market forces are in their favour. They win tournaments without Jasprit Bumrah. Their batters are artists. Their spinners are warlocks. We should be in love with them. It's a pity we're not.
In years gone by, even 10 years ago, I'd have said most English cricketers would have said they'd want to play Test cricket for England as the peak, the pinnacle. But I think those answers are getting less and less. There are fewer and fewer players actually saying that is the pinnacle because of the opportunities that there are around the world' – Jimmy Anderson, speaking to the BBC, raises concerns around the future of Test cricket in the country.
It's the 32nd over of Australia's innings against India in the Champions Trophy semi-final. Having won the toss and chosen to bat first, the Aussies have lost wickets at regular intervals. Steve Smith is there on 67 with Alex Carey in support on 13. India, though, are in complete control.
Smith bunts Varun Chakravarthy to the deep on the leg-side where Virat Kohli gathers and throws towards the non-striker's end. The bowler allows it to bounce past the stumps rather than field it himself and his captain, Rohit Sharma, has to back up.
No harm, no foul, right? Wrong! Sharma lets rip at his bowler, admonishing him for some shoddy work, taking issue with what seemed like only the slightest lapse in concentration and commitment. No run was conceded, but that wasn't the point. Under Sharma's watch, only perfection is permitted.
It might be hard to love the Indian team with all the advantages they enjoy, but you've got to hand it to Sharma who has turned this outfit into one of the most formidable winning machines cricket has ever seen.
If you include all tournaments with five teams or more – in order to make space for the Asia Cup and World Series – Sharma is now the joint-most successful captain of all time with four titles, level with Imran Khan, Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni. His 27 wins from 30 ICC tournament matches means he has a win ratio of 9:1, better than any other leader in history. But he's not just leading with tough talks and scathing looks. His bat is doing plenty as well.
Thanks to some handy stats work from Cricinfo, we know that Sharma, at 37, remains a force at the top of the order. In the first 10 overs of one-day internationals he averages 61.52 and strikes at 119.62 since February 2022. His overall average of 60.93 is the best of all batters since January 2023 and he is the most destructive batter over 35 in the format's history. Since reaching the same age as Andrew Strauss was when he retired from the game, Sharma has been hitting at a strike-rate of 117.37. Most people slow down as they get on. Sharma is speeding up.
He's not done yet and shot down suggestions that he'll be hanging up the boots any time soon. With a T20 World Cup on home soil in 2026, and a 50-over edition a year later, you wouldn't bet against him adding two more major prizes to his tally.
When South Africa's captain, Ali Bacher, caught Australia's Allan Connolly to secure a 323-run win in Port Elizabeth, now known as Gqeberha, he couldn't have known that it would be his last action on the field for his country. On 10 March 1970, the South Africans completed a stunning 4-0 series sweep of Bill Lawry's team with Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards averaging in the 70s with the bat and Mike Procter causing havoc with the ball, claiming 26 wickets at 13.57. But a series of events starting with England's selection of Basil D'Oliveira, who was barred from representing his native South Africa because of the colour of his skin, meant that the cricket world finally turned its back on the apartheid state. After 21 years in isolation, South Africa returned with a brief tour of India in 1991.
'A triumph that felt as immaculately controlled as the months of sabre-rattling and politicking that preceded it'. Jonathan Liew reports on India's Champions Trophy triumph.
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… by writing to Daniel here.
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