Pat Cummins became the fourth captain since the turn of the century to win Cricket World Cup the year after the wedding. Cummins led Australia to a sixth men’s World Cup trophy on Sunday night as the Aussies defeated India by six wickets in the final.
The Brave move by the Australian captain to send India into the fray paid off big as the tournament hosts managed just 240 on a slow wicket that proved difficult to bat on. But just as Cummins predicted, the pitch quickened in the second innings with the help of some evening dew and the Aussies had a much easier time of it.
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After an early stumble that left them at 3-47, Travis Head (137) and Marnus Labuschagne (58 not out) guided the Aussies to glory with seven overs to spare. It capped a brilliant year for Cummins as captain after his Australian side retained the Ashes in England, won the World Test Championship and now the ODI World Cup.
Australia’s win came against all odds, but a curious trend was pointed out on social media that suggested it was written in the stars all along. Cummins became the fourth captain in recent times to win the World Cup the year after he got married – accession Ricky PontingMS Dhoni and Eoin Morgan.
Ponting won the World Cup in 2003 after marrying his wife Rihanna in 2002, while Dhoni led India to glory in 2011 after marrying Sakshi in 2010. Morgan helped England win the World Cup cup in 2019 the year after he married Tara Ridgway in 2018 and now Cummins won the 2023 edition after marrying his wife Becky in 2022.
The only captain bucking the trend is Michael Clarkewho led Australia to glory in 2015 but married ex-wife Kylie Baldy in 2012. Ponting also won the World Cup in 2007.
Pat Cummins’ World Cup triumph comes at a difficult time for family
The curious trend is clearly a complete coincidence, but it goes some way to supporting the theory that on-field performance goes hand-in-hand with off-field happiness. For Cummins, The World Cup triumph came on the back of a difficult year in which his mother Maria died and he spent most of 2023 away from his family in Australia.
“Obviously I had a really great year,” he said after Sunday’s final. “I know my family at home are watching, I just got a text from dad that he used to wake up at 4am a lot, he didn’t go to bed until 4am so he’s so excited.
“You sacrifice a lot to play for Australia and everyone in the team has and we’ve spent a lot of this year away but we do it for these moments. It’s huge, it’s the pinnacle of cricket, winning a World Cup, especially here in India, in front of a crowd like this.
“It’s been a big year for everyone but our cricket team has been here in India, the Ashes, the World Test Cup and to top it off it’s just massive. These are the moments you will remember for the rest of your life. “
Josh Hazlewood said the triumph in 2023 is better than when he was part of the team that won the World Cup in Australia in 2015. “This is bigger than 2015. We won this at home in front of our home fans “, he said.
“But the challenges we’ve gone through in the last few months, coming here, playing in these conditions against India, who are a pretty special team. To win on a day like this is amazing.”
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