The mail first. Amazing piece of work, certainly relives the 90s decade. Absolutely love the part on GI Joes and Hot Wheels. A couple of points which could have been included:
1. You would have probably accompanied Vinod Kambli in shedding a tear or two following India's tragic loss to Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in the 1996 World Cup.
2. Your parents would not have minded you watching two programmes on DD1: Surabhi and Turning Point.
The 90s decade had an inherent romantic aroma attached to it. Starting with Indian Cinema, this was the decade which saw directors like Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar come up with their romantic blockbusters. The Khan legends of today established themselves in Indian Cinema by virtue of romantic classics (read MPK, QSQT, DDLJ) churned in the beginning of the decade or even earlier.
I find it difficult here not to draw an analogy between Indian Cinema and Indian Sport. While the romantic flicks continued to warm and break Indian hearts, the sportspersons weren't left behind. The year 1996 saw the start of India's arguably best batting line up ever, with the advent of Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Sachin Tendulkar was already more than 6 years into international cricket by then. Very soon India UNarguably had its best ever opening pair in ODIs and its best ever no. 3 test batsman. Probably this was the period when the Indian's love for cricket had reached its zenith. The greatest ever Indian cricketing moment had probably happened over a decade back and it still remains to be repeated. But even then, with the advent of the idiot box in almost every household, the connection with cricket reached heights unseen before.
Honestly, we never were strong contenders to win the 1996 cricket world cup. Still, Sachin thought differently and so did Anil Kumble. Aided by contributions hither and thither, we made it to the quarters and played perhaps the most memorable Indian cricket match of the decade. As Venky Prasad rattled Aamir Sohail's stumps and showed him the way to pavilion, the Indian fan got the moment which he would cherish all his life. We made sure Javed Miandad did not get the farewell he wanted, and felt that the Chetan Sharma ghost had been buried... if only to an extent. We rose to battle against the flamboyant Lankans in the semis, but fell with the fall of the Master. Kambli would have known that he was not the only one with wet eyes then.
That was the period when we lost more than we won, but the sting of the loss was much more than what it is today. Indian Cricket today has fans, back then it had fanatics. It was not just about the performances, it was about the style as well.
I remember a 1998 Outlook issue after the famous Sachin-Warnie battles got over. It had Ganguly, Dravid and Sachin on the cover titled as "The Creator, The Preserver and The Destroyer". Rarely have I read better articles on cricket. Here's the link: http://www.outlookindia.com/content.aspx?issue=129
Rahul Dravid: "On the off side, there's first God and then there's Sourav Ganguly."
Dennis Lillee: "If I had to bowl to Sachin I would bowl with a helmet on. He hits the ball so hard."
Peter Roebuck: "The Indians regard Dravid as their own Steve Waugh, a fighter, resourceful and effective, who looks like one of those stern and reclusive monks, to be found in mountain retreats, whose wicket must be prised." Today, there might be some regarding Steve Waugh as Australia's own Dravid !!!
Same goes about the Indian bowling attack. After Kapil Dev, there hasn't been a fast bowler who bowled his heart out better than Javagal Srinath. Again, probably Zaheer Khan might end up with better records, but the Indian fan might never pray for him the way he prayed for Srinath. Similarly, Harbhajan Singh might never draw the respect which Anil Kumble commanded. Kumble had the unenviable task of being the first Indian frontline spinner after the famous quartet retired. Still, he ended up scoring a "10-on-10" in that.
Indian Hockey will never see the days of Major Dhyan Chand again. But if, there was one sportsperson in India who could draw parallels with Sachin Tendulkar in the 90s, it was Dhanraj Pillai. The man at 35 could still outdribble 20 year olds. We remember Kambli cry at Eden but few remember Pillai cry at the goalpost in 2000, after failing to qualify for the Sydney Olympics semis. It was the era of Dhanraj Pillai, Pargat Singh, the Varkeys and the Tirkeys which last managed to hold the attention of the Indian fan by springing up notable performances here and there.
And then there were the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. A certain Leander Paes (an unknown Indian with an 'un-Indian' name) lost to a certain Andre Agassi in the semi finals and a billion hearts broke. Pretty soon, he beat Fernando Meligeni (God knows who) and won the Olympic Bronze. Suddenly, Leander Paes was India's newest sporting sensation. Everyone even with a badminton racquet wanted to be a Leander Paes. This was the 1990's Indian's first tryst with tennis, which continued to grow with Paes and Bhupathi and then with Sania. The hopes now rest on the big Somdev Burman.
The Indian Cricket Team today is undoubtedly a more charged up lot. The don't look good when they play, but probably there ugliness is much more effective. The heroes back then din't win as many as the boys of today, but they surely paved the platforms for today's victories. Today we win more than we lose, but the firecrackers are lesser. We are still looking for names which can match up to the heroes of the 1990s. There is still a battle to be seen which can match up to the classic Sachin vs Warnie duel. The India-Pakistan rivalry has never been the same again.
Probably the time has come that the Indian fan wishes to move onto a different sport. There were cheers around when Narain Karthikeyan drove into Jordan and there are many wishing bigger for Karun Chandhok. Indian Hockey is all but over. Any attempt at its revival turns out to be a bigger letdown than the previous one. I hear someone shout EPL, but the common Indian would feel the connection only when India plays the FIFA World Cup.
We hope, for Indian sport's sake, that there are more like the Shooter, the Boxers and the Wrestler. We hope, that there will be a day when Somdev Burman beats Federer on grass and maybe even Nadal on clay. We hope, that the IHF wakes up and we see madness similar to Dhanraj Pillai's sprint on the hockey turf. We hope, that there will be a day when the Indian football fan will have his own country to cheer for, at the FIFA World Cup. And last but not the least, we hope for the singlemost biggest unifying factor in this nation- Cricket, that it leaves the controversies currently haunting it behind and the Indian fan gets to relive his romance with the game.... again...!!!
