This too shall pass!

It felt as if Rohit Sharma would never go down. As if his Blue Brigade would never go down, standing there, clinging desperately to the coveted crown.

Sharma smiled, clapped, bawled, smirked, swore, panicked, sighed, and teared up - all in the same order.

Trying to figure out where Indian cricket and its exploits fit into the fabric of the world is a popular topic but, for one evening at least, there was this unexpected truth: All around the world, sports fans of every kind were inspired by the performance of the 36-year-old Mumbaikar. In a loss.

The ending was cruel, but then so is the game or any game for that matter. Team India's captivating run in the World Cup stopped here, at Ahmedabad's giant Motera stadium, as five-time champions Australia carried on with their spotless reputation and took destiny in their own hands once again.

There were very few fireworks to light up the Indian skies. Sharma cut a dejected figure as Glenn Maxwell closed in like a one-man elephant stampede. A few metres away from the non-striker's end, Marnus Labuschange shove his bat under his armpit and went first to Virat Kohli, extending a gloved hand and polite thanks, accepting the latter's congratulations.

The invaders thus arrived in waves, first overjoyed team-mates, then high-strung security personnel, photographers, and officials. Australia's match-winner Travis Head was oddly stoic among the whirl of dancing bodies, as the stench of failure hung as heavily as the humid air in the Indian dressing room.

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Try as he might, Sharma could not keep the poignancy from creeping into his voice as he addressed the media later that night.

"The result has not gone our way and we know that we were not good enough on the day. But I'm proud of the team. With 240 on the board, we wanted early wickets but credit to Travis Head and Marnus. They put us completely out of the game and I thought the wicket got better to bat on under the lights," he said.

A billion fans went silent as India was plunged into darkness with none to rescue.

India's ‘only bad' day on the field came totally out of the clouds as nearly every pundit and every bookmaker expected Sharma and Co. to lift the shiny trophy, but alas!

With all of its advantages over their global competitors, how did India fail to win the World Cup? The question has divided the Indian cricket community ever since. Some have blamed subpar shot selection and fatal misfields. Others have questioned India's pitch tactics. And some have just said that the side had a bad game that must be consigned to oblivion.

"It was all about the pitch. Nothing there (at Motera) favoured us. I knew a win wouldn't be easy just when Rohit bhaiya lost the toss. But to my surprise, Patty (Pat Cummins) decided to field first. We were too naive to understand. But as the game progressed, we understood they made the right decision to field first. I still remember how Bhaiya told Shastri Sir (Ravi Shastri) that he would have bowled first had he won (the toss). People are saying Australia played better than us, but it all starts with tactics. They outplayed us not just physically, but in every way possible," Junaid Khan, a district-level cricketer, told Mid-Day.

Motera's pitch, which appeared drier and slower than expected, played its part in India's defeat. Sharma's approach didn't adapt well, especially in the second innings when the ground conditions took a sharp turn, failing to leverage the slower nature in their favour.

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The result will follow the likes of Rohit and Kohli for the rest of their playing days, but the failure was far from theirs alone, feels Rounak Sadhwani, an independent tech entrepreneur, who watched the disaster unfold from the stands.

"The entire nation was defeated. It should be called a day of mourning, I could not process all that was happening before my eyes. This tells you, anything is possible in cricket. They played some good cricket throughout the tournament, unfortunately the final match didn't go our way. Let's just call it a bad day that we had no control over. I think it is easy to forget if we think like this," he explained.

However, Sadhwani's friend Balwinder Sahni grimaced with displeasure time and again. Upset at India's dramatic batting collapse in the final, he explained how India's fielding as well as batting contrasted sharply with Australia's.

"All this while, everyone's been talking highly of our top and middle order. They stood exposed again. What is the point of hitting fours and sixes if you fall for such a poor shot selection? And then you are the captain, opener, the team relies on you, how could he play that risky shot is beyond my understanding. It was the same old story with the bat at last. What could our bowlers have done? If you haven't batted nicely, at least field well. It's utter stupidity to expect our bowlers to win us the matches each time, no that's not how cricket is played," said Sahni.