2nd of April,2011-The greatest moment for an indian cricket fan,the moment every fan yearned from the day he understood the meaning of runs and wickets,a moment profused with ecstacy,pride and self-gratification.the moment of culmination of the journey from "A bunch of 10 little Indians and a star" to "A cricket team with an inspiring champion and a great leader ".Cricket for a fan in an inexplicable way is linked with the natonal identity ,though it does not play any miunuscul part in potraying the true image of a nation.Cricketing victories gives the fan a sense of pride,a feeling of joy and a infinitesimal moment of running away from the materialistic world.This victory is the consummation of the little unsaid dream in every cricket fan's heart, the apogee of Mt.Everest,nothing more and nothing less.
There was this 8 year old kid witnessing India vanquising Pakistan in the 1996 world cup and then being agonisingly kicked out of it inspite of Sachin's heroics throughout the tournament.It was the birth of the kid into yet another indian cricket fanatic.The Indian team was then a bunch of people with two or three individual big-guns trying to maintain its reputation of being the ambitious hosts and the disgraceful tourists.Alas the kid was blessed enough to be a beholder of the making of the greatest batsman of his generation.Sachin was the superman both the kid deserved and needed.The kid even never minded his hero's failure to rescue the team as a leader,as the kid knew that his hero was destined only to be the batting God and nobody else.Roger Federer cannot hit home runs,can he ?
The indian cricket team saw the arrival of two promising and intriguing young men,one left-handed with the greatest of timings and the other right-handed with the purest of techniques.The team started earning respect outside the country ,but still a test victory seemed a far fetched dream.The 1999 world cup came and went with flashes of brilliance from the team but the dearth of talent,energy,focus,consistency was clearly evident.During the course of the tournament ,the kid had become a holistic cricket lover and enjoyed watching one of the greatest one day innings from an Australian who also incidentally was the architect and inspiration for the world cup triumph.This australian captain(widely known as Stephen Rodger Waugh) who was an epitome of hardwork and perseverence was given a special place in the kid's heart.
Then there was the change of throne and the prince was made the Maharaja of Indian cricket.The attitude changed,Balls were chased till they reached the boundary,Men started diving in the field and teenagers started getting a place in the Indian dressing room . Even the master was asked to sacrifice his opening position for the team.There was a vision,a plan and a path.More importantly,the path was steadfastly pursued through victories and defeats.Two youngmen fashioned a historic run chase in the mecca of cricket.The kid had grown into a boy and knew the nitty-gritty of the game now(thanks to Harsha Bhogle and the bunked classes at school).The Indian team put a proud display of grit and tenacity at the 2003 world cup and ended as the second best team of the tournament.A billion hearts crashed(including the boy's) when the punter produced the innings of his lifetime to bat India out of the world cup final.But the boy knew he could walk with his head held high without shame.All these years ,there were two great statesmen decades,one be-spectacled engineer who also bowled mesmerising leg spin and one stylish Hyderabadi artist who also hit those boundaries English batman would never play even in their dreams.
You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villian.The Maharaja seemed to be at the helm more than his time.The ODI format never needed the impregnability of the wall anymore .The boy had gone to college and was denied the chance to see the 2007 world cup in his hostel.What did he do?He started standing infront of tea-stalls,hotels and even spent a night in a barber shop, only to see his beloved team going toothless and bowing out in the first round .It was one of the darkest moment in Indian cricket history and the team was desperately in need a saviour.Indian cricket was due for an overhaul and needed fresh legs to carry it farward.The prince decided to move on .Wait,what has he done to indian cricket ?He just built an indian team that will conquer the world one day.(In the names of Shewag,Gambhir,Yuvraj,Zaheer,Harbhajan,Nehra and Dhoni).Meanwhile the test team grew from strength to strength,the batting order became the best ever in indian history.The disgraceful tourists became the most feared.
The master made the masterstroke again,this time off the pitch though ,by choosing the next leader of the Inidan team.The 2007 T20 world cup broadcasted the arrival of something positively suprising to Indian cricket,a leader whose demeanour was calm and confident and a team that had the courage to take bold decisions without the fear of losing.A hardworking veteran was made the coach.Throughout all these changes in the Indian cricket,the boy's hero remained a constant.There was this aura about the leader and his team-a blend of aggression,street-smartness,youth,experience and they finallly started playing for each other.There were ebbs and flows,so were patience and perseverence.Here came the 2011 world cup,the man from Ranchi showed the world what differentiates a leader from a captain..Finally the hour of joy arrived,the moment belonged to the master,the cup belonged to the captain and the rest to the ordinary cricket fan.It is truely a night to remember.....
