CHENNAI: You are 11. The cricket World Cup is on TV and you are watching it with interest. The last time it was on, Ajay Jadeja treated Waqar Younis like a club bowler. This time, you vow to watch all the matches. Sachin Tendulkar, your parents tell you, stands between an Indian win and defeat. So, when he is dismissed cheaply against Australia while chasing a big score, you go out and play hide and seek. A few weeks later, Australia win the World Cup. But it's okay. You are just a kid and you won't even remember it when school reopens in a few weeks.
You are 15. Time for 10th standard board exams. You struggle with mathematics. More obtuse the angles in your geometry textbook, the more acute your problems. Another World Cup rolls around. India are looking okay. Australia are loaded with match-winners. Tendulkar, you know by now, is a totemic presence. Chasing 360, though, isn't going to happen. Australia wins another World Cup. You are a teen who's obsessed with the game. So the final is a heartbreak.
You are 19 and in college. After picking commerce in school, you pick business administration in college. You are in a steady relationship. Both of you are into cricket and make elaborate plans to watch a World Cup in the West Indies. Games begin at 7.30 PM. SMS charges will cost a bomb so you decide to come up with a new system. India stink the place out. Australia wins another World Cup. Plus ca change and all that. So predictable.
You are 23. You have a nephew. You are a working professional. The last time you saw Australia lose in a World Cup, you were a child. Lol. Is there even any point in watching this World Cup in India? But, hang on. They lose to India in a World Cup. Is that even allowed? India go on to win the World Cup. So this is what it feels like, eh? Bottle this feeling and sell it in the supermarkets.
You are 27. You have a niece. You are in another relationship. A few strands of white hair reminds you about the unrelenting, unforgiving passage of time. The office you are working for wants you to do something for the World Cup. It is in Australia-New Zealand. India look good. Australia look better. In the semis, both face each other. You tell yourself it will be a close game. It's over as a contest long before the final ball is bowled. Australia wins another World Cup. They have lost three matches between 2003 and 2015. Four World Cups. Three titles. The definition of domination.
You are 35. People are laughing at Australia because they haven't begun the World Cup well. They will never learn. If it's the World Cup, they will find a way. They always find a way.
In your lifetime alone, you have seen Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Steve Smith come up with generational performances. You have also seen Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds perform escape acts that belonged in an otherworldly realm.
You also saw Glenn Maxwell.
The big daddies of this event just know how to get it done.
Mentality monsters.