As a kid if this storytelling bit was not enough, every 4 years we were reminded that we haven’t seen/witnessed Indian Cricket’s best ever moment. Over the years we saw the 1983 champion players giving motivational interviews pre-world cup, archival footage being played repeatedly and poor Kapil Dev would also have to lose his face, graphically, as some newspaper would morph the current captain’s face over his – as an aspiration we hoped we shall live up to. While everyone love the Devils of 83 for their success, everyone including them hoped they were saved off this rigmarole one more time.
1992 is when I remember seeing and understanding the game and picked up a lot from the World Cup that kept my friends and relatives entertained for long - enacting Javed Miandad’s jumping jack act and also Kiran More, who was changing his gloves as the ball was getting bowled and eventually ran himself out.
1996 is when I had definite opinions on cricket. Seeing India lose to Australia in spite of a super knock by Sachin, broke my heart, I danced on the sofa (my neighbour’s) when Prasad got back at Aamir Sohail and was stunned to see Azhar returning a gift to Kumara Dharmasena.
1999 was when a biscuit company ran a promotional campaign to collect the biscuit cover packs and get a booklet dedicated to each world cup edition. I went about collecting all these booklets as if it was my duty to eat biscuits to ensure India wins. This time we had the right mix of individuals and it just had to be this time around – but we lost to Zimbabwe. And no longer did we look or play like a champion team.
2003 had it all. The team played to potential and raised the bar every match. This time there will be no next time I thought to myself. But I was wrong. The occasion got to us and a lot of hopes - just like that Sachin Tendulkar shot in the final – went high up in the air only to come down crashing. Angered, I threw my bat saying this team had no balls.
2007 The year of Hope. Indian cricket went through a lot of controversies and finally Sourav had settled back into the team. Lot of us thought this would be the silver lining to the dark cloud surrounding Indian cricket for few months running into this tournament. But the time was still not right. Dravid over-confidently mentioned in a pre-cup interview that he saw India in the Semi Finals and I said to myself- WHY??? Stunned by what had hit us, the nation was like a computer processor that just got hanged. It took days to restart.
The wait was just getting longer. India meanwhile played some exceptional cricket – 1998 Sandstorm and Sachin winning an Opel Astra was my answer to the Áudi story I was told about by the elders. 2001 Final Frontier win was seeing a champion-like fight back, something India had never seen before. But still it was not to be the best moment. Though India grew from rank to rank last decade we also were conscious of the emptiness and hollowness because in spite having champion players like Sachin, Kumble, Ganguly and Dravid we still weren’t titled THE CHAMPION team. Yes we became the No.1 test team but we still hadn’t seen the best moment of Indian Cricket. As happy as we were with the T20 world cup win, we knew deep down this is just not ‘IT’.
Meanwhile it had been 28 years. Pranab Mukherjee then Finance minister had come a full circle and was the finance minister once again. US had decided to wage a war against Iraq - twice. Madhuri Dixit had danced along with, both, father and son. Some of the members from the Devils of 83 team got married had kids and sent their kids to play with Sachin (read IPL). Sachin himself went onto make 97 centuries and a double century in ODIs. Amitabh was still a superstar and even his son Abhishek Bachchan managed to score a hit. The politicians had learnt to not only interrupt and object parliament proceedings but completely waste an entire monsoon session. It wasn’t lakhs but lakhs of crores of money that these politicians had learnt to siphon off into SWISS ALPS and yet managed to look at the mirror shamelessly everyday and go on. India managed to score an Individual gold at Olympics and also win at the Oscars. But yet it wasn’t time for us to be World Champions at Cricket.
And then it was 2011. Ian Chappell hadn’t thought India would remain the No.1 test team for as long with a bowling unit like ours. He was wrong; we still are the best test team. India was pitted as favorites to win the World Cup. Often opposition used it to their advantage by playing mind games with Team India. But they say, ‘the more the things change the more they remain the same.’ Our batting still looked the strongest on paper; bowling and fielding were our weakest links. Our opening batsmen were still a Dasher and a little master. We had 1 strike bowler who was not express fast. A Punjabi all rounder was still going to be our Trump Card for the tournament. A tall lanky spinner would still play few matches and warm the benches more often. Pakistan still didn’t know how to win against us at the world cup. And it had to be the same day in the week – Saturday when we were to play the Finals.
But a lot of things had changed too. Here we had a team who didn’t know how to lose. Often we were accused of losing a game in the minds before we lost it on the field. But we had 15 characters who knew nothing else apart from giving their best try. We have never had a captain who was sans emotions, could keep his cool and yet identify with the pulse of the game. A Batman who had revived himself and looked like he would do this all by himself – no matter who else raises their hand up.
But little did he know that his teammates this time were cricketers who idolized him. A lot of these players picked up a bat, started playing cricket, love what they do for a living because they saw Sachin bat. A lot of them took to cricket to play with the man and win matches with him. And if Sachin wanted something - these guys wouldn’t shy from standing in front of a truck.
Yes there were those pitfalls – inexplicable bowling changes, mind-boggling team selections, hard-to-understand batting order reshuffles and failure to convert opportunities. Sachin Tendulkar enjoys God like status in this country and after the England and South African game it felt bad that his efforts weren’t paying off and this team couldn’t appreciate the value of these knocks to stay in there and fight it out. It made sachin-crazy fans say things like ‘God helps those who helps themselves’ and that the team needs to build on the platform Sachin was creating game after game.
But like Gary Kirsten said to the players– “You are the world's best team and you have to continue that. The spark is there, don’t let it extinguish.” The team had some unshakeable confidence going into the knock-out stages. The Yuvraj - Raina combine to ensure Australia’s 12 year cup domination ends, or Harbhajan’s experience showing when he bowled a full toss to Shahid Afridi, who was least expecting it, to close the Pak straight. And what can one say about Zaheer Khan’s opening spell in the finals, ensuring he puts to rest the 2003 ghosts. Dhoni saving his best for the last. But do spare a thought for the Delhi lads Gambhir and Kohli who played sensibly to negate any advantage Sri Lanka thought they had got by getting 2 early wickets. But what is special has been the mental ability of this team to cope with the pressure of living up to top billing, handling expectations of every 6th person in the world who happens to be an Indian. These cricketers know they are special and have proved just that by not forgetting to thank and pay tribute to the few good men who started this revival in Indian cricket and also one of the most loyal fans – Sudhir Gautam.
But above all, each of these players was gracious enough to dedicate this win to their idol – Sachin Tendulkar and their Coach Kirsten. There is some amazing ability in this team to speak the right thing at the right moment. Remember Kohli’s reply about carrying Tendulkar around for a victory lap. These cricketers realise what Sachin has achieved through these years and understand it would be an aberration had he not won this coveted cup. They also realize the pride and joy they have given to the country. But I hope this win triggers a change in India just like 1983 did – it gave birth to a breed of champions who believed they CAN.
I sure got a glimpse of it in a cab-ride, the cabbie was ecstatic about India’s success and exclaimed , “World Cup jeet gaye, ab aur kya chahiye. Dobara Bihar banana hai to banadenge!” (What more could we ask for after this World Cup win. If required, we could build a state as big as Bihar once more)
For me the eternal fanatic who drove 30 hours to and fro Nagpur to see Sachin scoring a century, the one who skipped his 2 year old nephew’s birthday dinner to ensure he could concentrate on the Match Finals, it doesn’t end here. The noisiest room I have ever been in, the crazy crowds dancing on the roads stopping my car, making me dance and only then letting me go, the friends with whom I lived through the moments in this final and some friends with whom the bonds only grew stronger transcending geographical boundaries. I had witnessed Indian cricket’s finest moment.
The wait was WORTH it.
Because now it is my turn to become – THE STORYTELLER.
