Published: Mar 30, 2015, 08:25 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 01, 2015, 06:08 AM (IST)
After an unbeaten streak of eight matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to reach the final, New Zealand were thrashed by Australia by seven wickets. Despite the magnitude of the defeat, New Zealand maintained their composure and bowed out with grace. Rishad D’Souza looks into the culture of a team that maintains humility in triumph and gracefulness in defeat. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: The CricketCountry XI
“The better team won on the day”, Brendon McCullum said after his New Zealand team lost the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to Australia. He could’ve spoken of the missed chances, he didn’t. He could’ve mentioned the injuries, he didn’t. He could’ve shed a tear, he didn’t. No excuse was made! ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Top 10 innings
Kane Williamson – the apparent heir to the captaincy throne, prior to the knockout stages, had called on New Zealand to maintain their “calm aggression.” Those words in any other context would’ve seemed incongruous, but that’s possibly the most apt way to describe New Zealand’s conduct in the tournament. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Top 10 spells
In the post match presentation ceremony and the press conference thereafter, McCullum could have casually mentioned that Adam Milne may have played a big role in the match or he could have pointed out that New Zealand had not played in Australia since 2009 and he also could have added one line about Daniel Vettori’s back-injury that didn’t let him bowl to his fullest or how Steven Smith got a lucky break when Australia were in a precarious position. He could have made those statements and followed it up by the customary – ‘but taking no credit away from the opposition.’ ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Top 10 most memorable moments
Although, those could’ve passed off as valid points, McCullum refrained from bringing up any of that and instead simply accepted defeat saying that the opposition played better cricket on the day. Not even a hint of excuse could be traced in the way he spoke. It became a little more evident that McCullum is a man of high self-respect and going by the way the team conducted themselves, it is clear what impact the man has had on them. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Moments that occurred for first time in a World Cup
If a man were to set out on a quest to find any glimpse of unprovoked misconduct or in-your-face celebrations by the New Zealanders in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, they would return broken, scarred, exhausted and yet unsuccessful. Never mind the odd verbal jab at opponents, the New Zealand bowlers despite tasting massive success never even indulged giving batsmen glares. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Top 5 catches
The absence of those mind games never resulted in any dip in intensity however. No team can win eight World Cup matches on a trot without playing a tough brand of cricket. McCullum consistently employed aggressive fields. The New Zealand batsmen didn’t shy away from butchering the opposition bowlers and on eight occasions out of nine, the ploy came off. New Zealand showed that aggression and misbehaviour are separable – calm aggression! ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: The Associate XI
Match celebrations on the field were subtle and respectful to the oppositions, even if New Zealand brutalised them in the match itself. They were smiles, they were cheers but in the end the handshakes with oppositions were genuine and respectful. Cricket World Cup finals XI: Players who were outstanding on the day of finals
In the final when New Zealand’s unbeaten run and more importantly their World Cup dream was shattered, the team was expectedly dejected but once again they stayed clear of excessive display of emotion. The team accepted that they were outplayed and they didn’t produce any hint of excuse to explain the defeat. When asked if New Zealand would re-look at their approach following the defeat, McCullum was firm in his rejection of the idea. He made it clear that New Zealand were proud of their success and bowed out with their heads held high. While McCullum is captain, the ‘calm aggression’ will stay and any genuine fan of cricket looks forward to the same. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RDcric on Twitter)
