It is done!. The World Cup has been won. There are several experts around the world (along with a few bookies in England) who are looking at detractors and smirking away their "I told you so"s. Yours truly was one that did not believe. And did not believe till 38 for 2 in the final. What happened after that however did not just shake me by the scruff of the neck, but also finally drove home a conviction that deep down, I have always had. This is what the Indian team was always capable of.
This is not my way of squirming out of the hole I dug myself into when I wrote my previous two-part blog. This is also not my endeavour to find an elegant way out of my thoroughly flawed predictions. I accept censure. You know those 'detractors' that Ravi Shastri said would shut up after the final? Well, I am one of them, and have no qualms accepting that. This victory is so sweet it makes every bit of thrown back shit sweeter. So, we are in the position (a weird but welcome situation) of asking what went right. Quite a few things actually. People have attributed this historical achievement to things like peaking on time, an uber-cool captain, a resurgent Yuvraj, a determined Tendulkar, and the batting order delivering on its promise. My premise is to look at it from the point of view of my earlier blogs. The things that could have gone horribly wrong didn't.
1. The opening triumvirate worked. Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir all played crucial roles in different games. Sachin seemed like a man on a mission, which he probably was, and the other seemed to just keep him as a focal point to help inspire them through every game. Sehwag opened with a high scoring ton in the opening game, and then played small but critical parts in other matches. His demolition job of Umar Gul will remain one of the unsung causes of the semi final victory, if ever an analysis is done on the game by the Pak officials. Gambhir was not in the best of touch throughout and often had to make his own luck, but he stuck around most times, and grafted a splendid 97 when it mattered most.
2. The shaky middle order - the worst thing that could have happened was Yuvraj hitting a trough instead of the peak that he found himself on instead. It wasn't all plain sailing in the beginning. Misfields and horrible running peppered his early innings, and though he kept winning MOMs, I wasn't convinced till the Quarters. By then, it was clear that this was another determined individual, who had decided that form is not automatic, and talent alone would take him nowhere. The result was a visibly alert, aware performance which also fed off the success in the bowling department. A brief blip in the semis caused a flutter, but nothing put all doubts to rest like that super stop in the field in the final, when the Indian fielding was incredibly even better than the Lankans'. The dive was eager, resolute, and not showy as it has been in the past. If this is the new resurgent Yuvraj that we will continue to see after this success, then Indian cricket is on the good path. Kohli's position in the order kept changing, due to the captain's lack of conviction about his own place in the order, and that disturbed the lad's equilibrium a little. There was enough for the young Kohli to do though, especially in the final when he helped bring stability to the innings before Dhoni took it home. Raina also found some form with the bat, and though Pathan could never re create his Bangla bash, he is a weapon one should be proud of having in reserve.
3. The skipper - The man with the golden touch continues to flourish, but I may never doubt his decisions again. I still feel his floating around the order should be more controlled, and some of his decisions still rankle. Preferring Chawla over Ashwin and bringing in Sreesanth in the final could well have been decisions he would regret and would be vilified for if India had not won. He even admitted this in the post match interview. What all will appreciate however is his openness about this and the humble acceptance of what must seem to him and most now, a very desirable turn of fortune. Luck had nothing to do with his spectacular shepherding of the run case in the final though. That was an innings as good as I have ever seen, one that means more for the one day game of 50 overs than anything else. Any student of the game will know what a great advertisement that innings was.
4. The weak bowling - is still weak, but was able to restrict teams to manageable totals when it mattered. Australia and Sri Lanka both struggled to safe-ish targets, and after England, none could cross even 280 against the beleaguered and blunt attack. Zaheer strove manfully and had at least 6 great overs in every match, Ashwin was great when he got the chance, Munaf cleaned up his act towards the end, and Nehra played a vital role in the semis in strangulating the Pakistanis in their chase. Harbhajan didn't get too many wickets, and I still think he needs to be dropped for a few matches to allow him to circumspect and go back to the basics maybe, but he did keep the runs down most times. Sreesanth may have played his last match for India(at least for a while), but that depends on whether Dhoni will let go of his lucky mascot. The man has been in Dhoni's 11 in almost all of his triumphs and the skipper might not want to let him go that easy.
All in all, what seemed to have mattered most was the team's determination not to give up. It appears that Sachin Tendulkar gave them something to aim at and they all played out of their skins to win him his first Cup in what must certainly be his last. That determination was seen in each dogged fight that every game became. None of India's matches, except perhaps the Holland one, were spectacularly easy wins. Every performance was workman like, stripped bare of style, but heavy on substance. There were flashes of brilliance, but also plain ugly performances(the great master's innings against Pak being a glaring example) as well. There was a lot of sweat, huffing and puffing, but never did it seem like the team wasn't trying. Even when the chips were down, which was almost in every match, the boys held on, scrambling furiously to stay afloat, then grabbing viciously at the first opportunity, and finishing in style after that. It was the kind of performance that makes me proud to be Indian, at a time when not much else does.
So with the World Cup won, one hope the players get what they deserve - some time off with the family. All the other condiments and side shows are irrelevant. What is a crore worth when you can't spend it with the people you care, love, and are the reason you are?
Seems to be a lost cause though. The circus is only getting started. Read from the link below, and commiserate for our brave young men...and their dear ones.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/oliverbrett/2011/04/indias_turn_to_dominate_cricke.html
