Sourav Niyogi bought his first England jersey after his country of domicile made it to the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup and his country of birth did not. “I had bought the tickets of the final at Lord’s expecting an England-India face-off. I have several India jerseys but this time I needed an England one as India would not be there,” said the Asansol boy settled in London for 17 years.
He had so far been lucky in supporting the winners in all the four other matches he had witnessed from the stands — India’s matches against Australia, Sri Lanka and West Indies, and the Edgbaston semi-final in which England trounced arch-rivals Australia. He recounts to t2 the experience of watching England edge past New Zealand to lift the trophy.
At Lord’s, a substantial proportion of the crowd comprised Indians who had travelled from India or the US. Through the match they remained a confused lot, unsure who to support. This meant they applauded good cricket from both sides. Then there were Indians residing in the UK like me who were cheering for England.
At the break, we thought New Zealand’s total of 241 was a gettable target and the match was in England’s pocket. Tension started mounting once the third wicket fell with the score at 71. But an Indian fan from Calcutta seated next to me said confidently that Ben Stokes, who was walking in, would win it for us. He had seen Stokes bowl the last over at the T20 World Cup at Eden Gardens in 2016, in which Carlos Brathwaite had pummelled him for four sixes in the last over to deny England victory. “This is redemption time for him,” my next-seat neighbour declared. Stokes, I agreed, is indeed a changed person now, with his off-field troubles (a bar brawl in Bristol) far behind him.
Sourav Niyogi at the Lord’s on Sunday.
Sourav’s ticket to the final match Pictures by Sourav Niyogi
When the accidental boundary happened, we took it to be an overthrow. It was only on watching the replay that we figured out that the ball had hit Stokes’ outstretched bat and ricocheted. Frankly at that point we were too relieved at the target getting closer to dwell on the fairness of it.
Once the scores were tied, there was a buzz in the galleries as to what would happen. Everyone knew about the super over but it was not until the announcement was made on the public address system that we became certain. Many were surprised to see Martin Guptill come to bat for New Zealand. But I agreed with the choice. He is the only big hitter in their line-up with an unbeaten double century to his name in the last World Cup. The rest are accumulators. He might not have fired in this World Cup but he always seemed just one match away from getting back to form and the Kiwis backed him all through the tournament.
Rather, I was unsure about the choice of Jofra Archer to bowl the super over for England. He is too young for the big moment and too new to the side, I thought.
Once England won, by virtue of more number of boundaries hit in the super over, we were jubilant but we also felt for the New Zealanders seated in front of us. A stunned silence had befallen them. New Zealand had played too well to lose. An English colleague told me that though he loved it that England had won the World Cup, he wasn’t sure if it was a fair result.
Cup that cheers
From the ground, we headed to a pub to celebrate. On the way, we spotted 10-12 cars honking away with the fluttering England flag tied to the grille. Even then, the celebration was nothing like what we had seen during England’s Fifa World Cup campaign in 2018. Football is not only a more popular sport, followed by rugby, it is also followed by a different class of people. Now football has become slightly more broad-based. But cricket remains a gentleman’s game. So the celebrations were muted in comparison to what football fans would do. Even then, some did dive into the fountain at Trafalgar Square where a fan zone had been set up.
This victory is very important for English cricket, which has been finding it hard to keep up with other sports. In a bid to resuscitate cricket in the country of its birth, The Hundred is being started next year. It’s a league in which city-based franchises will play 100-ball games. That’s even shorter than T20!
The World Cup was being beamed on Sky Sports, a pay channel which not everyone could afford. Once England made it to the final, the England and Wales Cricket Board made sure that it was telecast on Channel 4, which is free to air, to maximise impact.
The Royal Mail has declared that its post boxes in the cities which hosted matches of the men’s World Cup and the women’s World Cup in 2017 (in which India’s Mithali Raj and girls narrowly lost to England eves in the final) will be painted white with a golden bat and ball, in commemoration.
Michael Vaughan (former England captain) has written that because of this victory, there will be children playing cricket on the streets in five-10 years’ time. Much like in India after the Prudential Cup victory in 1983!
- As told to Sudeshna Banerjee
