Not sure how long the World cup tournament lasted because it was enough and has satisfied all my desires to be part of another World cup cricket tournament in this life. Maybe in the next world or after life where all the stars from the past and the present will play together and we might see Bradman open and Muralidharan get him out. That would be a great sight and great cricket of the super natural variety.

And in that celestial cricket ground, liberated from earthly sins we may just want to enjoy the game rather than indulge in more basic instincts where we see the game like every other game, a chance to attack and maim and hopefully kill. So many deaths albeit of the symbolic 'out" but the pleasure is no less enjoyable, But then are we not humans? Are we not programmed to hate and kill?

Way too long and way too many teams

The reason why it went on and on was because there were far too many teams and each played each other for no reason. This is taking fairness to an absurd level and beyond the reaches of the pit many teams live in. Clearly the teams were not even closely matched to make the tournament look competitive. Of course, every team has its day and the laws of physics, biology and God Knows what else apart from luck throws them an improbable win and everyone think, "ah, look at the glorious unpredictability of cricket."

What unpredictability? Everyone knew who was going to win and who was going to lose. Which teams were going to the semis and which were going to go home before that? Did anyone seriously think -except some mad, fanatic fan or a lying coach and official - that their team had a fair chance of having a shot at the finals?

Clearly, four teams had no chances of being a threat - Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. I know I know.. Afghanistan did whack some real biggies but in the end it didn't. And it failed the ultimate test. It lost to Bangladesh. I mean seriously guys, even we don't lose to ourselves unless we are under pressure, want to take the family early to dinner or attend a social ceremony, not to mention endorsement appointments. Naughty, naughty.... You don't lose to pit dogs and expect to move up. You are a cricket untouchable in the realm of the higher cricket castes.

The Westminster model

A special mention must be made of England who showed how much it has changed under the regime of Rishi Sunak. Most people thought England had a bad spell of form and ended up at the near bottom but it was a brilliant move on the part of English foreign policy. As everyone knows, the UK's foreign charity funds have vastly shrunk and they are unable to play a significant role anymore.

However, they still want to influence policy particularly in their old hunting grounds so they deliberately played badly to be amongst the lower teams particularly Bangladesh and Sri Lanka both hard hit by the global economic turmoil.

Two World cups

Two WC makes more sense split between 12 teams. One can be first played between the lesser teams - Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan (?) in the first year. In the top tier can be India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England (?). One/two teams will go up every year and the same number will come down. And of course the candidate's cup where other teams will participate to produce two qualifiers.

The tournaments will be shorter, more intensely competitive and less humiliating for all. Otherwise, the way several of us crumbled was not just embarrassing but humiliating for the teams -not much -but fans and the game itself. The spirit of cricket if you ask me.

How did Bangladesh do?

What most people never realized is that BCB wanted to leave a mark on the game but not necessarily on the field and they were successful. They knew how to create a ruckus and everyone now knows who we are-the Time out team. So watch out everyone.

But it also did another thing. Everyone was so busy abusing each other they forgot that sloppy matches could be fun by adding some gentlemanly stuff. Otherwise, pretty brilliant stuff and we might soon have more of the same next.

The final

Australia took the cup and India was beaten in its home ground after beating everyone in an unbroken run. So what happened? Well, it happens for one thing. And Tantriks do have their bad days and all that but did they have to fail on one day that mattered. Anyway, congrats to all and where exactly is Ahmedabad?