The Indian flag flew high at the Wanderers on September 24th - India are world champions again! After a lot of promise and a lot of hype we finally have lifted a cricket World Cup - albeit a Twenty20 one. Here was a young team that everyone discounted, here was a captain who gave the impression of being more brawny than brainy - but they proved everyone wrong. Its a champagne moment, a day that we will remember for ever.
Photo Courtesy CricinfoWhat's more, this seemed a total team effort. Yuvraj sparkled in most games, but not all. Rohit Sharma (the find of the tournament for me), cashed in when he got the opportunity. Gambhir has matured and taken his game to the next level. The bowlers contributed handsomely as well - RP has consistent throughout, Harbhajan won a game for us, Pathan sparkled in the final, Sreesanth in the semis. And of course, not to forget Agarkar - his contribution, as always, was immense. His credit lies in the fact that unlike in previous tournaments he showed his true colors in the league stage itself, than thereby spared us his terrible bowling when it really mattered :-)
But amidst all the euphoria, I cannot but feel a tinge of uneasiness somewhere deep down. The reasons are threefold -
1) Just when the public had got bored with cricket, and were coming out in numbers to support other sports like football and hockey - this win will surely have given oxygen to the cricket travelling circus. If it took the 1983 win to firmly establish cricket as the #1 sports in India and a national obsession, the timing of this win could not have been better for the administrators. With millions of dollars at stake at IPL & ICL, this win surely will give them the ammunition they need to rake in the moolah. The 'other' sports could get relegated to the backbenches again, and for some time to come.
2) Already cries have been raised to remove the 'buddhas' (elderly) from the team, the ire being directed primarily at the Holy Trinity of Indian cricket - Sachin, Sourav and Dravid. I am sure the public at large will get blinded by this euphoria and bay for their blood and the BCCI will oblige. But Twenty-20 to me is a different format - this is a game where the boundary between good teams & ordinary teams is a thin line. A couple of players scoring quick 30's and 20's may be enough to put up a good score. But in ODI's and especially Test cricket, it is a different ball game. There you need experience and class - a flashy 20 may please the crowds, but will harly ever win a game. A case in point - from the batting point of view, it is only Rohit Sharma who is new to the team. The other guys already play in ODI's, and in the first team. But it still took 3 century opening stands from the old firm of Sachin-Sourav to win the 3 ODI's in England.
The contribution of Sachin, Sourav and Dravid to Indian cricket have been immense. Their generation was the golden era of Indian cricket. Yes, they are in their twilight zone now - but I still feel we need them for a couple of years more to help India in Tests & ODI's.
3) Lastly, we must remain aware of the big series' coming up. The wounded Aussies are coming to India - surely they would not have enjoyed losing to us in the semis. Pakistan too have lost twice to us, no less in the finals. Shoaib Malik too would not have forgotten his crusade on behalf of all "Muslims in the world" (sic). And then of course there is our own Final Frontier - a trip Down Under. The Holy Trinity have given India many firsts in Test cricket - memorable overseas wins, for one. Last time they came close in Australia (but for a few missed dollies from the baby faced Parthiv) - this is their last chance.
The team needs to forget the felicitations, and the hype and the hoopla very quickly. They have to remember that the Indian public have worse memory than a hard disk with bad sectors. The jubiliation of the T20 World Cup win may disappear faster than a Yuvraj six if we lose at home to Australia, and much more so to Pakistan. I may be playing a spoilsport and a doomsday sayer here, but all too often we have seen a low after a high in Indian cricket. Here's hoping that history is not repeated this time :-)
1 comments:
This is good cricketing post. You touched some delicate points of the game.
I fully agree with you that the Trio legends are irreplaceable in One day and obviously in Test cricket. T20 is a different projection of the game, where a quick 50 will take the match away from the opponent. But I think it will make the game more popular.
The team needs to forget the felicitations, and the hype and the hoopla very quickly. They have to remember that the Indian public have worse memory than a hard disk with bad sectors. - nicely expressed the Indian mentality in sarcastic way, I fully agree with you.
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