The term upset when used in relation to sports and games indicates an end result that is totally unexpected and turns the pre-event predictions completely on its head. In common sporting parlance it signifies the underdog emerging the better of a stronger and more fancied opponent. Sporting history is replete with such instances and they, in turn, remain etched in the memory of all those privileged to witness them. For instance, who can forget India humbling the mighty West Indies at Lord's in the final of Prudential World Cup on June 25, 1983? Similarly, all those who followed Wimbledon in 1985, whether in person or through television, would remember the amazing run of an unseeded Boris Becker which ended with him lifting the much sought after trophy.
Two such upsets took place in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup during the course of the week that went by. The first was the 69-run victory registered by Afghanistan over England, the defending champions, and the other was the 38-run loss suffered by South Africa at the hands of the Netherlands. The extent to which these results went against the predictions of the pundits and experts could be gauged from the fact that before the game commenced, Jos Buttler and Temba Bavuma, captains of England and South Africa respectively, were at pains to convince the public that they would not be taking their opponents lightly. However, by the time these matches ended, it did appear, that despite the protestations by their skippers to the contrary, both these teams were guilty of some amount of complacence, which led to their shock defeats.
These results again prove the theory that there is very little difference as far as capabilities of the 10 teams who are competing in this World Cup. Afghanistan boasts of one of the best spin attacks and any batsman who takes them lightly will do so only at his own peril. Rashid Khan has been acknowledged as the top leg-spin bowler in the world while Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have more than 100 wickets in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) under their belt.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, had edged out two-time champions West Indies in a game that went into the Super Over in the World Cup qualifiers. Their skipper Scott Edward is a prolific run maker in limited overs cricket while Logan van Beek has the ability to change the course of a match singlehandedly. Both England and South Africa made crucial mistakes at critical stages from which they could not recover. In England’s case it was wayward bowling by the pace bowlers and poor outcricket while the South African batsmen gifted too many wickets, playing loose shots.
This brings one to the subject of greatest upsets in the history of the World Cup. Without doubt, India defeating the West Indies in the 1983 final would rank as the biggest ever. The result was completely unexpected as India had won only one match in the previous two editions of the championship, while the West Indies were an all conquering outfit. Further, India’s entry into the final was considered more a fluke than an acknowledgement of their cricketing skills. The feeling that the final would be completely one-sided gathered force when India were dismissed for a paltry score of 183. And when Viv Richards started toying with the bowling, sending the ball to the fence almost at will, spectators started leaving the ground. But the downfall of Richards, brought about by over confidence bordering on arrogance, kicked off an amazing turnaround. The Indian bowlers soon gained the upper hand and the West Indian batting crumbled, with wickets tumbling one after another. India’s win by 43 runs shocked the cricketing world. A surprised nation went tipsy with glee and celebrated wildly when Kapil Dev held aloft the World Cup sporting his trademark toothy grin. Cricket has not been same since that night and the 1983 final changed the course of the game forever.
England were strong contenders when the World Cup was held in the Indian sub continent in 2011. They came very close to defeating India, the eventual champions in a thrilling match which ended in a tie. However, a mere three days after this game, they had to face the ignominy of being defeated by Ireland, who had not even been awarded Test match status by the ICC. England appeared to have wrapped up the match when they had Ireland pinned to the mat at the stage when their score read 111/5, chasing a target of 328. But Kevin O’Brien, who walked into bat at No. 6 had other ideas and he pummelled the England bowlers into submission with a stupendous knock of 113 runs off a mere 63 balls. He struck six sixes as he raced to a century off 50 balls, the fastest in the history of this tournament. This record was broken by South Africa's Aiden Markram against Sri Lanka in this edition. England players were in a state of daze by the time he was dismissed with the total on 317. The threee-wicket win that Ireland registered bolstered their case for full membership of ICC and they played their first Test in 2017.
Can a star-studded side comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Zaheer Khan lose a game toa relatively inexperienced team? This was what happened during the group stage of the 2007 World Cup when Bangladesh sprang a surprise on their highly fancied opponents at Port of Spain, a venue that had favoured touring Indian sides in the past. Fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza sliced through the Indian top order. Despite a fighting half-century by Ganguly and a valiant knock by Yuvraj, the Indian innings did not get going and folded up for 191. It was no walk in the park for Bangladesh batsmen as the Indian bowlers came out with all cylinders firing. But Bangladesh could not be denied an impressive five-wicket win, which they achieved with just nine balls to spare. India could not survive this shock and crashed out of the championship without reaching the Super Eight stage.
The decline of West Indies from their pedestal as an all-conquering side in ODIs had started from the early 1990s. But it was inconceivable that they would lose to minnows like Kenya, who were playing in the tournament for the first time ever. This took place in the 1996 edition of the championship when the Richie Richardson-led side, which included stalwarts such as Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop and Curtly Ambrose, lost by 73 runs to Kenya. Chasing a very modest total of 166, the West Indies batsmen lost the plot against a disciplined Kenyan attack led by Rajab Ali and Maurice Odumbe. Richardson and Lara fell early while the other batsmen failed to get going. Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Roger Harper managed to reach double figures and the batting disintegrated that the side ended up getting dismissed for 93. However, this humiliation acted as a wake-up call for the West Indies and they played with increased vigour to reach the last four stage where they lost a close game to Australia.
Zimbabwe, who made their entry into World Cup stage in 1983, had shown in their very first match, where they defeated Australia, that they could not be taken lightly. They demonstrated their prowess during the 1992 World Cup, when they defeated England by nine runs at Albury. In 1999 they turned the tables on South Africa, then in great form and an overwhelming favourite to clinch the Cup, during the league phase. Neil Johnson, who opened both batting and bowling for Zimbabwe, was the star of the show for his side, scoring 76 runs with the bat and picking up three wickets - those of Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis and Hansie Cronje - for 21 runs. Zimbabwe won the match by 48 runs and secured a spot at the Super Six level. This defeat showed that South Africa was not as invincible as they appeared to be and they crashed out in the semifinals after the match against Australia that ended in a tie.
Why do upsets happen? The main reason is that, as stated earlier, there is not much of a difference between the skillsets of the two opponents. The more fancied side would certainly be placed better so far as experience is concerned but the other side would not be too inferior when it comes to expertise and ability. The lower ranked team usually prepares better for a game with the stronger side as this is invariably a big event for them, while the latter tends to treat the match as one that falls under “yet another one” category. If some complacency and arrogance is added to this attitude, then it becomes a surefire recipe for disaster. In any sporting event, it is difficult to retrieve advantage once it is lost and when a stronger side finds itself on the back foot, which is an unusual situation for them, panic may also set in. On the other hand, the weaker side draws inspiration from this development and their confidence levels move up by many notches. And, most importantly, in such encounters, fortune tends to smile on the underdogs, who utilises the liberal amounts of bounty showered by Lady Luck and marches towards a shock victory.
It goes without saying that a change in any one of the above factors will work against the lower ranked team. This is the reason why upsets or shock results happen only rarely and are extremely difficult to be repeated when the same sides meet again. But they may have very significant long term consequences as happened in the case of Indian cricket after the victory in 1983 World Cup. In the short term, the comeback of a team in a tournament depends on its innate grit, fortitude and resilience.
Though one’s heart goes out to be the team at the wrong end of a surprise result, it merits being reiterated that such unexpected results add to the allure of sports. Epics and fables tell us stories of the poor vanquishing the rich, the meek standing up to the bully and the underdog conquering the favourite. However, in real life, such instances are all too rare and sports probably offers one of the few arenas where the romance of weak overpowering the strong can be experienced. This explains the positive response from across the globe to the upsets scripted by Afghanistan and the Netherlands.
Well played Afghanistan and the Netherlands! Your performance gave fans of the game plenty to cheer about.
(The author is a former international cricket umpire and a senior bureaucrat)
