What a glorious moment in the history of Indian Cricket ...... Pardon me, in the History of Indian Sports. The moment which every player dreams of but a few are blessed to experience that and the one who should have been blessed - Sachin Tendulkar - the Master, Batting Genius, Little Champion.... As the adjectives fade away describing the Aura of Tendulkar people decided to call him "GOD" of cricket. Rightly so, the man who carried the burden of a billion expectations on his shoulders for 21 years now, Responsible for so many golden moments in Indian cricket barring the ultimate one "WORLD CUP" till yesterday. He continues to defy age & Opinion, logic and reasoning, gets better like old wine with each passing day. Yesterday was the proudest day in his life(according to him) & why not he thoroughly deserved it. Thank you Team India for winning the cup and moment for HIM and for Every Indian.
When I say "Every Indian" I mean it. Cricket has been a great unifying force and you could have seen it yesterday People gathering everywhere to watch the Match, cheering every single run, Hugging each other (even the people whom they don’t know) on every boundary. I am sure yesterday people watching the match collectively at a common location would have made many new friends, turned enemies into friends. Such is the Force of Cricket.
Coming on to the Match, What we saw was the contest fought hard by the two teams and India writing the History by chasing down the highest total in the world cup Final. This was a different Indian team specially in terms of fielding and you could compare them with one of the best in business, Be it Australia, South Africa or New Zealand. That Dive from Yuvraj singh on point to save a definite boundary in the first power play would have Prompted Jonty Rhodes to say " Ah... I fielded like that". More heartening was to see the effort from not so good fielders like Sreesanth, Zaheer and Munaf. The way they threw themselves on field to save every run was something that you would not have seen in the Past, Be it a dive from Zaheer on his right to save the boundary or the desperate long dive from sreesanth to save a definite four.
How many times we have seen Indian Fast bowling restricting the opposition to 31-1 in first 10 over’s of power play? Thanks to the inspired bowling backed by the great fielding (which saved atleast 4 boundaries by that time)? Despite of a bad start Srilanka were able to post a formidable total of 274-6 riding on to a great 100 by jaywardhane (102 of 88 balls) and late surge by Parera (22 of 9 balls). Srilanka would have fancied their chances seeing the total and kind of bowling attack that they have. Their confidence would have been sky high once Malinga got through 2 early wickets leaving India tattering at 32-2 in 8 overs. Wankhede stadium... naah Mumbai.... infact the whole India becomes standstill when that 2nd wicket of Tendulkar fell. Everyone was wondering - Is it Over? Is this Indian team back into the 90's era? Will it choke again in the Finals against Srilanka? No one would have given us the outside chance when they knew the wickets to be fallen are of stalwarts like Sachin & Sehwag and India is chasing a total of 275 in the Finals against one of the best bowling sides in the world comprmising of Malinga and Murali one of the most threatening bowlers in the world. BUT then "NO ONE" doesn’t make HISTORY. It is the BRAVE and DETERMINED people who do. Who knew that this Indian team has decided to write its destiny on its own and this time they won’t allow anyone...anyone to stand between them and the Victory, Not even LUCK.
What we saw after that was the weak start was the solid batting from the youngsters who have literally created a place for themselves in this Indian team by converting every chance that came their way. They batted sensibly taking singles and doubles and converting odd bad ball in the boundary. Soon the run rate climbed to 5 an over without any risks being taken. When everything was going smooth Dilshan caught a blinder to dismiss Kohli. Indian captain walked in the middle determined to prove a point. Gambhir on the other hand absorbed all the pressure, kept the scoreboard ticking by hitting boundaries at the right time giving much needed time to dhoni to settle in. The duo batted beautifully giving no chance to the opposition, taking no risk, maintaining the tempo and proving a point or two about Indian batting. By the time Gambhir was dismissed, devoid of a much deserved century, India was in position from where it could not lose. Yuvraj and Dhoni saw India home. Dhoni specially ensured with his timely boundaries and sixes that the game is not dragged till last over and Finished things in style with a 6 over long on.
Gambhir was the man who laid the foundation of this chase overshadowed by the innings from Dhoni who played the knock of his life who knows 3 runs or more and he could have got Man of the Match award writing his name to the record books. Dhoni would not have chosen a better stage to get those runs and silence his critics by lifting the cup. His achievements have been phenominal in a very short duration of time- Winning T20 world cup, 2011 ICC world cup and taking India to no 1 Position in test Rankings. No doubt he had the Best Team but you need the Best leader to lead the Best Team and he truly has been the Best.
Yuvraj Singh got the Man of the tournament award and what a revolution he has been with the Bat, Bowl and in fielding, reinventing himself at a big stage.
There was something particular about this Indian team which I think has not happened earlier. Every member of this team has played at least one match in the world cup, everyone has a chance for getting selected in any match and everyone is a match winner on his day.
This is INDIAN CRICKET TEAM rising to the big occasion and reserving the WORLD CHAMPION title for themselves for next 4 years to come.
Proud to witness the Victory and Proud to be an INDIAN.
