Ireland: From Minnows to Miraculous!

Whenever a big tournament like world cup kicks off, the people start guessing the victor. Even though it’s very difficult to guess who will be the ultimate winner of the cup, it is possible to guess roughly the last four or last eight teams. When it comes to guessing the last eight teams, people guess that the top eight test playing nations, barring Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will be the quarterfinalists. But these are the days when they can no longer bet so safely about the last eight teams. The so called ‘minnows’ like Bangladesh and Ireland have changed the trend very effectively over the last decade.

Major upsets were not uncommon in world cup, starting from the then non-test playing Sri Lanka’s upset victory against India in 1979 edition of world cup. It was followed by Zimbabwe’s victory against Australia in the next edition of world cup. But until 2003, such upsets were limited to occasional victories by non-test playing nations. In 2003, Kenya stunned the cricket world when it entered into the semifinals of that edition. After that, the 2007 edition had two of the biggest shocks in the history of world cup. Minnows Bangladesh and Ireland kicked out two sub continental giants India and Pakistan respectively in the very first round of the tournament. Not even the strongest supporter of these teams would have expected such a result. Even though Bangladesh had produced a few upset results before that in international cricket, Ireland was a totally new team to the world of cricket. But that didn’t deter them from teaching a lesson to Inzamam Ul Haq’s team that they wouldn’t forget for the rest of their lives. But even before that, they had produced a superb performance against Zimbabwe by holding them for a tie. After that, what happened is history now.

Ireland’s wonderful performance didn’t stop there. In the next edition of the tournament also, Even though they didn’t qualify for the quarterfinals, they played superbly in every game they played. Chasing down a mammoth total of 328 against England was really a gem performance by a non-test playing nation. Despite ending their battle in the very first round itself, the Ireland made the cricket world look more seriously towards them. Now their yet another solid performance against another former champion team, no matter whatever the current plight of that team is, undoubtedly a warning signal to the top teams of the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if this charismatic bunch of players wins the cup in 8-12 years to come.

What makes Ireland so special among the minnows? Their never-say die attitude makes the biggest difference. Whoever may be their opponent, whether it is Australia or South Africa or Bangladesh, their attitude doesn’t change. As their captain William Porterfield rightly said after their famous victory against West Indies, they always play to win. They have already beaten four test playing sides in world cup, a feat that no other non-test playing side has done before. That itself is the indication of how good a side Ireland is.

When it comes to talking about Ireland, the discussion isn’t complete without mentioning the O’Brien brothers, Kevin and Neil. Kevin is the man who holds the record for the fastest century in world cup, which he established when he pulverized the English attack in 2011 world cup to help his side chase down a massive target of 328. His brother Neil starred in his team’s yet again successful chase of 300+ score against West Indies in this edition of world cup.

So how far can Ireland go in this world cup? if everything goes according to the plan, there is no reason why we can’t see them in the quarterfinals, because Zimbabwe and UAE are the two teams in the group against whom Ireland will start as firm favorites and provided the talent and enthusiasm of Irish players, even the top teams need to be wary of them. Otherwise what happened to Pakistan in 2007 world cup is bound to happen again.

After all, cricket is a game of uncertainties. To be frank, all the games in the world are ruled by uncertainties to some extent. But what is the limit of uncertainties? No one can guess that correctly, because what is happening in the cricket world today is something no one would have expected a 30-40 years ago. In the 1970s and 80s, everyone knows how the then West Indies team was. They were staring as firm favorites in any tournament they played. Their record of not losing even a single test series, either at home or away between 1980 and 1995 is still a world record and I don’t think any team can beat that record in near future. Even Australia, however dominant it may be in the cricket world, can’t do that in near future, because South Africa, India and England are still tough nuts to crack for the Australians, at least at their own backyards. But what has happened to such a wonderful West Indies team these days? They are losing even to non-test playing teams these days. Who would have expected that a team which has won back to back world cups would one day lose, despite scoring 300+ runs in a one day match, to a non-test playing team? Today the plight of West Indians is so miserable that they can’t even promise to win a single game against the teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe also. But Sri Lanka was a non-test playing team those days, but what is its position now? It has won the world cup once and reached the finals of the last two editions. Every time world kicks off, it will start as one of the favorites for the title. That’s how the cricket world has changed in four decades.

So what are the odds of Ireland winning the world cup? Even though it is true that their performance is outstanding, we can’t expect them to win the cup this year, but in the years to come, Ireland is surely a team to look for. Who knew that India would beat West Indies in the 1983 world cup final and win the cup? Who knew that Sri Lanka will win the 1996 world cup? So, let us neither expect too much from this side in near future, nor ignore them as worthless minnows. Let them play their natural game without pressure and with full pleasure, and then wait for the marvelous results that are bound to come sooner or later!