Tags:
Journalism of Courage
There was an early indicator about the interest level for the final in Centurion an easy passage on the N1 highway that connects Johannesburg to the venue showed that South Africa wasnt too excited about a cricket game between two nations they consider their biggest rivals on the rugby field.
Much before the tournament started,it was said that the Champions Trophy would be the big test for the 50-over game,but it seems the findings have been inconclusive. There were empty seats at the final and that cant be a good sign. In fact,the only time there was a buzz in the stands was for South Africa,Pakistan and India games.
Vettori,who missed the final due to a hamstring injury,had nice things to say as well. Every game has mattered,and thats the most important thing. The reason people are probably getting tired of ODIs is theres a lot of irrelevant games and that hasnt happened in this tournament at all, he said.
It remains to be seen if the 50-over game will get a second wind after this event but there have been a few positives not least among them being the emergence of several young players with bright futures: Tim Paine and Englands Tim Bresnan.
The silver lining for Pakistan and India was the success of their young middle-order batsmen Umar Akmal and Virat Kohli. But the team that benefited most from this event were the West Indies. The Champions Trophy gave their second stringers the rare opportunity to be on the big stage,and pacemen Kemar Roach and Gavin Tonge had the best in the business on their toes with speed.
The N1 may not have been jammed on Monday,but the tournament has led to some heavy traffic on crickets international highway.
