In what can only be considered an extraordinary change of fortunes, Pat Cummins ascended from facing critiques about his place in the ODI team to lifting the World Cup as the Australian captain. This dramatic turnaround saw Cummins leading his team to victory against the very sides that had earlier sent tremors through the Australian ranks—India and South Africa—in the semi-finals and finals, respectively.
Among the multiple defining moments that Australia could take pride in during the final match was the triumph of wresting the wicket of the Indian titan, Virat Kohli. Cummins, amidst the fervor surrounding Australia’s World Cup success, recounted the aftermath of that pivotal dismissal. The profound hush of Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, hosting a crowd well over 100,000, became an indelible memory. In an interaction with the Sydney Morning Herald, Cummins reminisced, “We’re in the huddle and Steve Smith says, ‘Boys, listen to the crowd for a second.’ And we just took a moment of pause, and it was as quiet as a library; 100,000 Indians there and it was so quiet. I’ll savor that moment for a long time.”
The anticipatory silence of the Indian crowd was not unexpected for Cummins. Before the grand finale, he had expressed a certain eagerness to confront and, in essence, silence the typically partisan Indian audience through sheer performance. “I think you’ve got to embrace it [large crowd]. The crowd’s obviously going to be very one-sided but, in sport there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that’s the aim for us tomorrow,” Cummins had stated in the pre-match press conference.
Cummins not only achieved the silence he sought but was instrumental in shaping the match’s outcome. His bowling prowess accounted for both Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, who were key figures in India’s batting line-up during the middle overs. Their departures from the crease precipitated India’s eventual folding at 240 runs, a score deemed inadequate on the pitch that day. This, juxtaposed with Australia’s rocky start in the powerplay, where they lost three early wickets, matters looked inclement for Cummins’ team. However, Australia persevered and ultimately chased down the target, affirming their supremacy and Cummins’ leadership.
The victory served not only as testament to Australia’s cricketing prowess but also to Cummins’ tactical acumen and ability to inspire his team under intense pressure. As he heaved the trophy, all preceding doubts about his leadership and place in the one-day international scene were categorically dispelled. Cummins emerged not only as a World Cup-winning captain but also a tactician capable of orchestrating a strategic silence among legions of fervent opposition supporters.
Indeed, this World Cup final and the moments it has embedded in Cummins’ memory reinforce the unpredictable nature of sports, where narratives take sharp twists, underdogs emerge as champions, and the roar of a crowd can transform into a stunned silence by the mercurial tides of the game.