When World Cup Cricket is at its best

If cricket has ever remained a team game, unlike tennis, that myth was shattered on Tuesday last. And it was done in a manner that will be etched in golden letters in the history book of cricket. Glenn Maxwell was the batter who rewrote history not only because he scored the highest ever run in a World Cup to script a win against all odds but also because of his Herculean battle against his injured physique with cramps in his toes, shin and calf muscle as well as back spasm. When movement of legs is considered the best asset in cricket for playing shots, Maxwell had to play unbelievable shots in a standing position. But he could barely stand and on two occasions, he just fell and overturned after delivering shots. He also buckled putting his body weight on the bat a few times and it was not before the physiotherapist brought him back to some shape and more importantly advised against retiring hurt because he would not be able to come down the stairs after receiving treatment in the dressing room.

So this is where Maxwell's highest score of 201 in a World Cup surpasses any one's feat achieved before. Kapil Dev had pulled off a stunning victory against Zimbabwe when India were on the brink of defeat with a score of 17 runs for five wickets in 1983 Prudential World Cup. But Kapil had no physical problem. It is in Tennis and boxing that the extreme of human endurance and steely nerves is at times on display. Novak Djokovic in tennis has made his special mark because of his will to fight to the last with a tired body before pulling off an unlikely victory.

Games and sports are not mere entertainment only because they take the ultimate test of human skill, determination and physical fitness and endurance. The best athletes set the bar of human excellence higher than before, giving the message that the body with its limitations can perform amazing things. There is the inspiration for others to emulate the feat and excel in performances even in fields other than sports and games.

Glenn Maxwell has done it in a fashion that will always act as a shining star, in fact the Pole Star, for all times to come. In a game of 11 players known as a team game, Maxwell singlehandedly made possible what everyone thought was impossible. He had the courage of conviction to back him. Of course, his captain literally stood by him inspiring and supporting from the other end of the pitch, himself playing the second fiddle. A one-man show it surely was because the whirlwind fashion of shot-making was a treat to the eye. But it was not an exhibition of the array of shots AB de Villiers played with his trademark one of 180 degrees.

Yet the innings of Maxwell is likely to go down the history as the most surprising and unique. He had to play shots on one leg after reaching his first ton. It needs extra courage to play such a superhuman innings. The God of cricket also was on his side on the day. He could be out much earlier, in fact was declared out by the umpire and survived by taking a review. Yet that was not the time when luck really favoured him, it was when his simplest of catches was dropped by Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the young Afghan cricketer. Yes, players in cricket, in particular, need some luck to achieve superhuman feats. Maxwell had the luck on that day.

If this match will ever be remembered for Maxwell's individual performance, it was certainly not the best of World Cup matches. Even Maxwell's imperial performance will fail to make it so. The laurel of the most pulsating match ever goes to the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand. Even the Super Over could not separate the two teams and had to be decided in favour of England on the boundary-count rule. England had 26 boundaries to New Zealand's 17. A match of so gripping a competition in the final made a statement of its own unsurpassed by any in the World Cup's history.