Let me start with this: INDIA IS THE WORLD CHAMPION OF ONE-DAY CRICKET.
We have waited 28 years for this day, having come real close in 2003. Lets just say that this victory, more so the path taken for this victory has re-ignited the passion and interest in me as a cricket fan which I was a few years back. Its been a case of redemption for the 2003 team members who played their best cricket during this edition of the World Cup. Sachin, Zaheer, Viru, Nehra, Yuvraj primarily come to mind from the feeble memories of the heartbreak in 2003.
While the league phase of the World Cup was nothing but ordinary due to the horrendous planning, the knock-out phase was just mind blowing. Knocking out your chief nemesis in the Quarters (the once mighty Australians), dismissing your arch rivals in the Semis (the always unpredictable Pakistanis) and holding your nerve to edge out possibly the best team in the tournament (the never-say-die Sri Lankans), I am truly delighted for Team India: THE MEN IN BLUE.
What once was an obsession during my teen years in India, Cricket had taken a back seat in the US with Team India focusing more on individual achievements rather than the team concept which is a must-have to win big tournaments. Sure, we won tours overseas and held our own in hostile environments in Australia and South Africa, but it was never gripping enough for me as a huge India fan to think of it as substantial victories. Growing up in India, if you did not win the World Cup, then moral victories are baseless - unless of course if you beat Pakistan.
I want to concentrate this post only on India's success in the knock-out rounds as that was when the Real World Cup started. While the drama of the group phases meant India faced Australia in Round 1, none of the other Quarter-Final games had the intrigue or the tension of a real contest. Never in the die-hard fans' wildest imagination would this scenario have unfolded that India's path to World Cup glory would have to pass through these opponents.
Australia vs. India - Ahmedabad:
Nerve-wracking from start to finish.
Did India have it in itself to withstand a century from one of the greatest players? - Check
Did India's famed batting lineup have the self belief to counter a deadly pace attack led by Brett Lee? - Check
Did we finally get the right combination of batsmen and bowlers that would have to adapt at every tense situation to come out on top? - Oh YES (Thanks for including Suresh Raina, the guy along with Yuvraj were masterful).
Did we finally feel relieved to get the "Cannot beat Australia" monkey off our backs? - HELL YEAH!!! (while this was not hard to believe as India had been on the upswing for a while everyone knew Australia is a different beast in WC cricket).
On to the next one.
Pakistan vs. India - Mohali:
Must have been scripted in the heavens.
India took their 4-0 record against Pakistan in World Cups and threw it out of the window. In past WCs, India's victory over Pakistan meant the WC is won, even if the eventual champions of the tournament would be Australia or in the case of the 1992 edition, Pakistan themselves. While everyone knows how the match turned out, it was interesting to see what happened at our company here. The Wipro team here planned to set up a conference room to broadcast the 2nd innings live. What an atmosphere!!! 50-70 people crammed in a room with laptops searching for any available "link" to the match - just in case if the primary link had stopped working. Cricinfo open on every available viewer's computer to catch ball-by-ball updates. Americans unfamiliar with the game, learning the nuances, the rules, the 'everything' of cricket in about 3.5 hours.
Thanks to some poor fielding during India's innings, a respectable score was on the cards for India's bowlers to defend. The start of the Pakistan innings was eerily similar to the Quarter-Finals in 1996 when Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar were blasting runs off of the Indian pacers. Then Venkatesh Prasad happened and the rest is history.
In this match, while wickets were steadily falling and there was no obvious hero for India in the bowling department, Misbah-ul-Haq happened and the rest is history.
While India has traditionally been incapable of throttling opponents with their bowling, this time around they smelled blood and went for the jugular. Dhoni, while accepting that he mis-read the pitch and turned to pace for the game, couldn't have fumbled with his game planning any worse but the master-stroke was getting Nehra in the side for R Ashwin and it worked wonders for India. The game was won in what we thought was unnecessarily made into a tense encounter by giving up easy runs in the field during the Pakistani innings. We lost Nehra to a broken hand but we were in the Finals.
Manmohan Singh did not show much emotions during or after the win, maybe because while Madam Gandhi and Rahul Baba were enjoying themselves with the public, they forgot to inform MMS that he too can savor the victory and enjoy the proceedings. What do we say, right, Puppet PM.
The Gods had smiled again and India moved on to what would be one of the greatest matches ever played in WC Finals History.
Sri Lanka vs. India - Mumbai:
Played under heavy security cover - and rightfully so, India played their strongest and most complete opponents in the form of the Lankan Lions who had won their Semifinal game against a wily New Zealand team that once again found themselves on the wrong side of the match. 6 WC Semifinal appearances and no victories to be proud of.
Dhoni vs. Sangakkara. Flair vs. Technique. Attitude vs. Grace.
Sachin vs. Murali. Champion vs. Champion.
WC hosts have never won a final - screw that. A Final's centurion has never lost a game - what humbug!! (Although, due credit to Mahela Jayawardena for a brilliant knock).
Had the makings of a truly memorable game and it did not disappoint one bit. While there will be many many news reports about the match in itself, the key thing would have been the number of people around the world who would have tuned up for this match. No matter who you are - a die-hard India or SL fan or just a die-hard cricket fan or a casual fan who would watch a game if shown or a once-passionate fan who wanted a reason to cheer for his team (I include myself in this group) - YOU SAW THIS MATCH. And it did not matter if the game started at 4:00 AM or 2:00 AM, you were not going to miss this for anything. The game was worth every bit of the hype. While "out-played" is not the right word, India clearly held their nerve in a nail-biter.
Thanks to Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Captain Cool, we won the game with a flourish and a huge six to crown India - WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS for the 2nd time.
In the post-match interview, some one asked Virat Kohli why the team carried Sachin on the shoulders and the response was simply brilliant. He said, "Sachin has carried Indian Cricket for almost 21 years, it was about time he was carried around". The greatest batsman of all time is finally a CHAMPION of the ODI format and that too in his home ground. Does this mean a farewell is on the cards? You never know with the Master Blaster. He is one ton away from a 100 hundreds.
So while India sits today as a 20-20 Champion, #1 Ranked Test Team and now ICC Champions, the only question I have now is - Where the hell is Poonam Pandey?
We have waited 28 years for this day, having come real close in 2003. Lets just say that this victory, more so the path taken for this victory has re-ignited the passion and interest in me as a cricket fan which I was a few years back. Its been a case of redemption for the 2003 team members who played their best cricket during this edition of the World Cup. Sachin, Zaheer, Viru, Nehra, Yuvraj primarily come to mind from the feeble memories of the heartbreak in 2003.
While the league phase of the World Cup was nothing but ordinary due to the horrendous planning, the knock-out phase was just mind blowing. Knocking out your chief nemesis in the Quarters (the once mighty Australians), dismissing your arch rivals in the Semis (the always unpredictable Pakistanis) and holding your nerve to edge out possibly the best team in the tournament (the never-say-die Sri Lankans), I am truly delighted for Team India: THE MEN IN BLUE.
What once was an obsession during my teen years in India, Cricket had taken a back seat in the US with Team India focusing more on individual achievements rather than the team concept which is a must-have to win big tournaments. Sure, we won tours overseas and held our own in hostile environments in Australia and South Africa, but it was never gripping enough for me as a huge India fan to think of it as substantial victories. Growing up in India, if you did not win the World Cup, then moral victories are baseless - unless of course if you beat Pakistan.
I want to concentrate this post only on India's success in the knock-out rounds as that was when the Real World Cup started. While the drama of the group phases meant India faced Australia in Round 1, none of the other Quarter-Final games had the intrigue or the tension of a real contest. Never in the die-hard fans' wildest imagination would this scenario have unfolded that India's path to World Cup glory would have to pass through these opponents.
Australia vs. India - Ahmedabad:
Nerve-wracking from start to finish.
Did India have it in itself to withstand a century from one of the greatest players? - Check
Did India's famed batting lineup have the self belief to counter a deadly pace attack led by Brett Lee? - Check
Did we finally get the right combination of batsmen and bowlers that would have to adapt at every tense situation to come out on top? - Oh YES (Thanks for including Suresh Raina, the guy along with Yuvraj were masterful).
Did we finally feel relieved to get the "Cannot beat Australia" monkey off our backs? - HELL YEAH!!! (while this was not hard to believe as India had been on the upswing for a while everyone knew Australia is a different beast in WC cricket).
On to the next one.
Pakistan vs. India - Mohali:
Must have been scripted in the heavens.
India took their 4-0 record against Pakistan in World Cups and threw it out of the window. In past WCs, India's victory over Pakistan meant the WC is won, even if the eventual champions of the tournament would be Australia or in the case of the 1992 edition, Pakistan themselves. While everyone knows how the match turned out, it was interesting to see what happened at our company here. The Wipro team here planned to set up a conference room to broadcast the 2nd innings live. What an atmosphere!!! 50-70 people crammed in a room with laptops searching for any available "link" to the match - just in case if the primary link had stopped working. Cricinfo open on every available viewer's computer to catch ball-by-ball updates. Americans unfamiliar with the game, learning the nuances, the rules, the 'everything' of cricket in about 3.5 hours.
Thanks to some poor fielding during India's innings, a respectable score was on the cards for India's bowlers to defend. The start of the Pakistan innings was eerily similar to the Quarter-Finals in 1996 when Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar were blasting runs off of the Indian pacers. Then Venkatesh Prasad happened and the rest is history.
In this match, while wickets were steadily falling and there was no obvious hero for India in the bowling department, Misbah-ul-Haq happened and the rest is history.
While India has traditionally been incapable of throttling opponents with their bowling, this time around they smelled blood and went for the jugular. Dhoni, while accepting that he mis-read the pitch and turned to pace for the game, couldn't have fumbled with his game planning any worse but the master-stroke was getting Nehra in the side for R Ashwin and it worked wonders for India. The game was won in what we thought was unnecessarily made into a tense encounter by giving up easy runs in the field during the Pakistani innings. We lost Nehra to a broken hand but we were in the Finals.
Manmohan Singh did not show much emotions during or after the win, maybe because while Madam Gandhi and Rahul Baba were enjoying themselves with the public, they forgot to inform MMS that he too can savor the victory and enjoy the proceedings. What do we say, right, Puppet PM.
The Gods had smiled again and India moved on to what would be one of the greatest matches ever played in WC Finals History.
Sri Lanka vs. India - Mumbai:
Played under heavy security cover - and rightfully so, India played their strongest and most complete opponents in the form of the Lankan Lions who had won their Semifinal game against a wily New Zealand team that once again found themselves on the wrong side of the match. 6 WC Semifinal appearances and no victories to be proud of.
Dhoni vs. Sangakkara. Flair vs. Technique. Attitude vs. Grace.
Sachin vs. Murali. Champion vs. Champion.
WC hosts have never won a final - screw that. A Final's centurion has never lost a game - what humbug!! (Although, due credit to Mahela Jayawardena for a brilliant knock).
Had the makings of a truly memorable game and it did not disappoint one bit. While there will be many many news reports about the match in itself, the key thing would have been the number of people around the world who would have tuned up for this match. No matter who you are - a die-hard India or SL fan or just a die-hard cricket fan or a casual fan who would watch a game if shown or a once-passionate fan who wanted a reason to cheer for his team (I include myself in this group) - YOU SAW THIS MATCH. And it did not matter if the game started at 4:00 AM or 2:00 AM, you were not going to miss this for anything. The game was worth every bit of the hype. While "out-played" is not the right word, India clearly held their nerve in a nail-biter.
Thanks to Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Captain Cool, we won the game with a flourish and a huge six to crown India - WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS for the 2nd time.
In the post-match interview, some one asked Virat Kohli why the team carried Sachin on the shoulders and the response was simply brilliant. He said, "Sachin has carried Indian Cricket for almost 21 years, it was about time he was carried around". The greatest batsman of all time is finally a CHAMPION of the ODI format and that too in his home ground. Does this mean a farewell is on the cards? You never know with the Master Blaster. He is one ton away from a 100 hundreds.
So while India sits today as a 20-20 Champion, #1 Ranked Test Team and now ICC Champions, the only question I have now is - Where the hell is Poonam Pandey?
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Thank You Vab. Do I know you? Keep visiting.