It was Destiny. Fairy tales are just not meant to have a sad end, in fact their endings form part of several mortals' dreams. Like a king thrust with the mantle of his regime early in his life, winning battle after battle, coming close to the One he has alway dreamt of, falling and biting the dust, and finally clinching it in his own backyard, in front of his own people. From the day India bowed out from the Caribbean in 2007, there have been experts calling for the veteran's heads. Heads did fall, but Sachin Tendulkar's stayed High and Mighty. Led by a man they call Midas, India fought batting collapses, opposition bowlers, their own bowlers, the best teams of the tournament and finally became the World Champions.
A few musings from the 45 days extravaganza:
1. Absolutely loved the way Gary Kirsten erupted after Dhoni hit the winning six. For a man who is not an Indian and is not known for a vibrant nature, this reaction was hugely wonderful. Wonder what it would have looked like, had Allan Donald chosen to run better.
2. For all those who criticized Dhoni's captaincy before the finals, kindly realize that his shoes were not the easiest to fit in. For a bowling attack which always seemed to be 3 bowlers short, he did a wonderful job juggling them and making the most of his limited resources.
3. Fine we have won the World Cup, but something needs to be drastically done regarding our bowling attack. Can't see Munaf and Nehra being a permanent feature of our seam attack. Bhajji better start getting his wicket-taking knack back, or else the lone spinner slot might very well be R Ashwin's.
4. Not just a Great Gambler, but Dhoni is also the most candid speaker around. From reprimanding the batters for playing for the crowds, to calling Raina a technically more sound bat than Phus-Phus Pathan, he almost poured his heart out after the finals, revealing his apprehensions regarding the storm he would have had to face had we not won.
5. Sourav Ganguly as a commentator...good and will definitely improve. Pretty similar to Wasim Akram, the speaking skills do need some polishing, but the content is definitely impressive (the importance of having good minds in the commentary box further cemented). To add to it, the pains of being a losing finalist became more and more visible as India marched on into the knockout stages.
6. It's a wonder how performances change people's perceptions towards you. Yuvraj did lose some weight, but not so much for him to be termed 'lean and fit' by the end of the tournament.
7. As much as I hate to say this, Ricky Ponting take a bow. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Ponting played one of his finest innings at the Motera. It was good enough to deserve a victory, just like a dozen from the Master were, but sadly for him, the others weren't good enough to support him.
8. In the group stage, India's campaign seemed to be one of a bunch of spoil brats overspeeding at traffic signals and getting busted. The turning point came when Yuvraj hit a cracking boundary off Tait just after Dhoni's dismissal. What followed next was India's first real fightback of WC 2011, courtesy Yuvraj and Raina. Australia were down and a mental block had been removed. India had beaten the man and his team which had denied it glory exactly 8 years back. The World Cup 2011 has half won on that day.
9. South Africa is never going to win a World Cup.
10. Was never a huge fan of Kohli, inspite of his vastly impressive one-day exploits of late. But the cool head which stood up to score 35 in a situation which could hav....... okay fine, actually his statement regarding Sachin carrying the country for 21 years has made me his lifelong fan. Hail Kohli !!
11. Spare a thought for Gautam Gambhir. The guy has topscored in both our World Cup victories and won a MoM for neither. Never mind, Rahul Dravid never minded, and so won't Gautam Gambhir, the World Cup was eventually won !!!
12. Was there indeed a sinister angle towards Gavaskar mentioning the Pakistani liking towards Mumbai after the Ind-Aus QF ??
13. Hate saying this, but the dropped catches, the delay in taking the Power Play and the snail paced Misbah innings did raise doubts about the sanctity of the game.
14. This one was a World Cup of revenges. Sri Lanka 1996, Australia 2003, Sri Lanka 2007, all taken care of. Who the hell said that the feeling of vengeance is an empty one ??
15. The progress of India and Sri Lanka to the World Cup finals this year were pretty similar to that of Australia and India respectively from the 2003 edition. Sri Lanka except for one match were on a roll, while India had their share of bumpy rides. Fortunately, the fates too ended up being similar.
16. Anyone out there who condemns the madness associated with cricket should have seen the streets after the Final. When else have the 1.2 billion of this country been given a single reason to erupt in celebrations ??
Every success for someone is normally associated with a failure for someone else. Not this one, this country on April 02, 2011 had only winners and no losers.
17. And lastly, the Indian Freedom Fighters from upstairs must be thanking the Indian Cricket Team. The scenes they would have imagined on the Indian streets At the Stroke of the Midnight Hour after Independence never happened. They instead took place 63 years and 8 months after Independence, at the mad-night of April 02, 2011..... when India was crowned the World Champion of Cricket.
CHEERS TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONS !!!
A few musings from the 45 days extravaganza:
1. Absolutely loved the way Gary Kirsten erupted after Dhoni hit the winning six. For a man who is not an Indian and is not known for a vibrant nature, this reaction was hugely wonderful. Wonder what it would have looked like, had Allan Donald chosen to run better.
2. For all those who criticized Dhoni's captaincy before the finals, kindly realize that his shoes were not the easiest to fit in. For a bowling attack which always seemed to be 3 bowlers short, he did a wonderful job juggling them and making the most of his limited resources.
3. Fine we have won the World Cup, but something needs to be drastically done regarding our bowling attack. Can't see Munaf and Nehra being a permanent feature of our seam attack. Bhajji better start getting his wicket-taking knack back, or else the lone spinner slot might very well be R Ashwin's.
4. Not just a Great Gambler, but Dhoni is also the most candid speaker around. From reprimanding the batters for playing for the crowds, to calling Raina a technically more sound bat than Phus-Phus Pathan, he almost poured his heart out after the finals, revealing his apprehensions regarding the storm he would have had to face had we not won.
5. Sourav Ganguly as a commentator...good and will definitely improve. Pretty similar to Wasim Akram, the speaking skills do need some polishing, but the content is definitely impressive (the importance of having good minds in the commentary box further cemented). To add to it, the pains of being a losing finalist became more and more visible as India marched on into the knockout stages.
6. It's a wonder how performances change people's perceptions towards you. Yuvraj did lose some weight, but not so much for him to be termed 'lean and fit' by the end of the tournament.
7. As much as I hate to say this, Ricky Ponting take a bow. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Ponting played one of his finest innings at the Motera. It was good enough to deserve a victory, just like a dozen from the Master were, but sadly for him, the others weren't good enough to support him.
8. In the group stage, India's campaign seemed to be one of a bunch of spoil brats overspeeding at traffic signals and getting busted. The turning point came when Yuvraj hit a cracking boundary off Tait just after Dhoni's dismissal. What followed next was India's first real fightback of WC 2011, courtesy Yuvraj and Raina. Australia were down and a mental block had been removed. India had beaten the man and his team which had denied it glory exactly 8 years back. The World Cup 2011 has half won on that day.
9. South Africa is never going to win a World Cup.
10. Was never a huge fan of Kohli, inspite of his vastly impressive one-day exploits of late. But the cool head which stood up to score 35 in a situation which could hav....... okay fine, actually his statement regarding Sachin carrying the country for 21 years has made me his lifelong fan. Hail Kohli !!
11. Spare a thought for Gautam Gambhir. The guy has topscored in both our World Cup victories and won a MoM for neither. Never mind, Rahul Dravid never minded, and so won't Gautam Gambhir, the World Cup was eventually won !!!
12. Was there indeed a sinister angle towards Gavaskar mentioning the Pakistani liking towards Mumbai after the Ind-Aus QF ??
13. Hate saying this, but the dropped catches, the delay in taking the Power Play and the snail paced Misbah innings did raise doubts about the sanctity of the game.
14. This one was a World Cup of revenges. Sri Lanka 1996, Australia 2003, Sri Lanka 2007, all taken care of. Who the hell said that the feeling of vengeance is an empty one ??
15. The progress of India and Sri Lanka to the World Cup finals this year were pretty similar to that of Australia and India respectively from the 2003 edition. Sri Lanka except for one match were on a roll, while India had their share of bumpy rides. Fortunately, the fates too ended up being similar.
16. Anyone out there who condemns the madness associated with cricket should have seen the streets after the Final. When else have the 1.2 billion of this country been given a single reason to erupt in celebrations ??
Every success for someone is normally associated with a failure for someone else. Not this one, this country on April 02, 2011 had only winners and no losers.
17. And lastly, the Indian Freedom Fighters from upstairs must be thanking the Indian Cricket Team. The scenes they would have imagined on the Indian streets At the Stroke of the Midnight Hour after Independence never happened. They instead took place 63 years and 8 months after Independence, at the mad-night of April 02, 2011..... when India was crowned the World Champion of Cricket.
CHEERS TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONS !!!
