Pat Cummins wears a broad smile as he stands awkwardly on the makeshift stage, the ODI World Cup trophy held low in his hands. He looks to one side and waits for his teammates to join him in the celebration. The Australian cricket team had only just ripped the script of India’s fairytale campaign and its captain was politely waiting for the dignitaries to leave the platform before the team could rush in and together lift Australia’s sixth World Cup trophy.
Rewind to 2006, when an Australian side at the peak of its powers won a first Champions Trophy that had long eluded them. At the presentation ceremony after the final, Ricky Ponting, the chief architect of that golden generation, beckons the BCCI president to hand over the trophy and the rest of the team pushes the official off the stage, to spark the revelry... and a barrage of criticism in the following days.
Much ink has been spilt on the softening of the Australian cricket team in recent years, well documented in The Test web series, but these two moments 17 years apart probably sum it best. The bravado of one captain gave way to the niceness of the modern, post-Sandpapergate skipper.
