No laughing matter as hamstrung Aussies exit T20 campaign early
If the loss to Afghanistan had stung, the overwhelming domination by India 36 hours later left the Aussies demoralised.
You wonder how many of the Australian players really saw the funny side of Gulbadin Naib’s now infamous yet comical hamstring fake-out on Monday night in St Vincent.
Sure, Mitchell Marsh has come out and said he found it to be among the funniest things he’s ever seen on the cricket field. This is not to say that the Australian T20 captain didn’t mean it. But what else could he say, though. Considering the joke was in many ways on his team, and their incredible slide from being one of the firm favourites for the T20 World Cup title to being on the brink of getting knocked out, all in the space of 36 hours.
As it turned out, Naib’s pretty novice “rainstring” play-acting – ahead of advancing rain clouds – didn’t have anything to do with Australia’s eventual early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup. At least, to his credit, the muscular Afghanistan all-rounder managed to provide Marsh a reason to laugh and have “almost tears in his eyes”.
For, this was no laughing matter otherwise – to have an Australian team reduced to the indignity of waiting around and helplessly watching their TV screens with the hope that Bangladesh pull off a tight win over Afghanistan. The control over their World Cup campaign having been fully compromised. The final say over their future in the tournament completely snatched from their grasp. And with nothing left to do but cheer on Bangladesh’s Litton Das as he tried his best to take his team home, thereby enabling a backdoor entry for the Australians.
We still aren’t sure about how many of Australia’s players got together to follow the events of a fascinatingly dramatic and ridiculous T20I match between the two South Asian rivals. Based on some of their social media posts, it’s safe to say some stuck to watching it from the comfort of their own rooms.
There is also a possibility of some having decided to stick to cursory glances at the scores rather than put themselves through the awkward task of watching someone else do their bidding.
It also didn’t help that the incessant rain breaks dragged the match into the early hours, with the match finishing well past 1.15am local time.
You could see it in the uneasiness with which both Josh Hazlewood and Travis Head answered queries about how they expected to follow the proceedings, when asked in the minutes after their comprehensive defeat to India in St Lucia on Tuesday morning.
If the loss to Afghanistan had stung, this overwhelming domination by India 36 hours later had left the Aussies evidently demoralised.
The overall fatigue and the relative lack of sleep from the very quick turnaround between games wouldn’t have helped, either. They’d finished the Afghanistan match post-midnight before taking a mid-afternoon flight the next day to Hewanorra Airport on the southern coast of St Lucia followed by a 90-minute drive to their hotel, only to be back in action within 18 hours. That, too, against a red-hot Indian team desperate to get something back for the heartbreak they’d suffered at the hands of the Australians in their home World Cup final in Ahmedabad.
With the pressure entirely on Marsh and his team after having had their campaign sideswiped by their loss to Afghanistan, it was the perfect storm on a mightily windy morning at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma certainly seemed to be in the mood for sorting out some unfinished business. It was merciless and quite dispiriting if you were in that Australian dug-out as the sixes rained all over the expanse of the St Lucian venue. Understandably, the Aussies seemed in a hurry to leave the place.
And by Tuesday afternoon, most of them were on a flight home via England, having endured probably the most challenging early exit for Australia in a men’s World Cup. One that is as difficult to fathom as it is to get your head around.
Yes, Australia had failed to make the semi-finals in their home T20 World Cup 18 months ago as well. That poor outcome, however, came on the back of a hammering in the opening game at the hands of New Zealand. An opening-over assault from Finn Allen that left the hosts playing catch-up throughout the rest of the league stages.
It was the same in 2016, when they never got going after a stuttering start. The eventually successful 2023 50-over World Cup campaign seemed to be going that way, too, after their first two defeats – to India (six wickets) and South Africa (134 runs) – and the ordinary start against Sri Lanka in the third match. This was different. Australia had started rather strongly, finding ways to get through tricky phases and finding heroes along the way as they finished unbeaten through Round 1. The big 36-run win over England standing out as a show of intent from a team who had set their eyes on an unprecedented treble.
It continued into the Super 8s, with their win over Bangladesh in Antigua. It’s safe to say the Australians seemed to be ticking boxes and ticking along quite confidently and convincingly till the time they reached St Vincent only four days ago.
The stage was set for them to peak when it matters most, like all World Cup-winning Australian teams do. Only for it to be blown away in less than two full days, almost against the run of play. The turnaround in fortunes so dramatic and drastic that you could barely catch your breath.
While the premature departure signals the end of David Warner’s career, this wasn’t the kind of campaign where you start immediately calling for heads. If anything, Australia had more performers than non-performers in the tournament with some, such as Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa, the standouts. But then, all it took was for a minor slip on a tardy pitch in St Vincent, aided by some interesting decisions at the toss and with selection, and a major slide on a flat pitch in St Lucia, abetted by the might of India.
You can’t help then wonder about what might have been if Bangladesh had snuck home in the end. This is not to say the Australians wouldn’t have been able to get themselves up for a semi-final. But you couldn’t help but wonder how they’d do so, based on their body language at the end of the loss to India, where they seemed out of it, literally.
At least Gulbadin gave them a reason to laugh on their way out.
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