Is the world of cricket being flattened?

By John Cheeran
Ah, cricket!
What a wonderful sport it is.
A team that was shot out for 80 the other day in Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium against Sri Lanka has bounced back to defeat world champions Australia in a convincing manner on Wednesday.
That is a quite a transformation indeed, inspired by 37-year-old Brian Lara and a few mean fast bowlers.
Look at some of the results in this edition of the Champions Trophy!
Defending champions West Indies losing abjectly though in an inconsequential match against Sri Lanka, a Sri Lanka on a winning streak going down to a Pakistan side riddled by doping and other fratricidal tensions..
There is always room for upsets in cricket but it is happening all, much more frequently now. Australian's dominance in one-day cricket is not all-encompassing as it was in the past. West Indies had beaten them in a group match in the tri-series in Kuala Lumpur. Rahul Dravid's India had taken world champions to the brink again in Kuala Lumpur and only a foolish stroke from Mahendra Singh Dhoni tilted the match in Aussies' way.
And New Zealand are waiting in the wings to pull off some pleasant surprises.
The world of cricket is being flattened now.
It is a level playing field out there with Davids slaying Goliaths much more regularly.
I would rate West Indies lifting themselves from the lows of 80 all out (even though it was a on a dodgy track at Brabourne) to outclass Australia a greater performance than Pakistan putting it past Sri Lanka.
West Indies have been the most volatile side in the recent years and they have had a history of playing below par both in one-dayers and Tests. Only during the last home series against India, Lara was seen fighting the demons of Caribbean cricket. Lara was having a running battle with national selectors for getting a team of his choice. He openly criticized the Windies cricket board and only the forthcoming World Cup has ensured Lara's captaincy and even his place in the squad.
I hope we will get to see more interesting results in the Champions Trophy.