WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

image credit :cricinfo

Millions of repeat telecasts of 1983 on TV gave me immense joy… I could understand it but could not comprehend the feeling of winning the world cup; I was not there when it happened. My dad although was there but wasn’t one of the lucky ones to have a TV to watch it… there was always this dissatisfaction brewing in him… he could not tell the story as well as my mother (who was a sports coordinator for all india radio)… he always felt left out… April 2nd, 2011 at about 10:45 pm as dhoni swished his blade with that steely grit in his eye... tears came, yes they just came no one could stop it…one could see the determination and awe inspiring nature of that shot, it was a brilliant metaphor... just a six in cricket terms but it meant a lot to the whole team…to Dhoni, to the master blaster, to the whole of the cricket fanatic country.

There he was the little master, his arms in air, beaming and chuckling, tears in his eyes, a man who carried the pressures of handling a huge country’s aspiration for almost all of his career, the only man in the team who most probably had a experience about what is it to lift a world cup as others were just small kids in 1983… he wanted that feeling, the whole of India wanted it for him, and there it was 21 years of constant hounding, 21 years of feeling incomplete with all the records to his name, lifted and thrown by a single shot over the boundary line. The man who motivated millions, spawned self belief in them, gave them something to look forward to and rejoice was a kid again, that kid who smacked Abdul Qadir to 6 boundaries in an over and exulted in joy, the kid who could just enjoy what he was doing…he was complete…his dream realized…

It wasn’t easy for the Indian cricket fan, emotional irrational fools that we are, Malinga bowling his heart off might have switched off a lot of televisions, for us Sachin was the Indian team, Indian team was Sachin, just imagine the magnitude of pressure on his shoulders… but losing hope would never help, the oxymoronic thinking always brought us back to the same match… everything said and done I can surely say one can ever hate the INDIAN CRICKET TEAM… however bad they perform we will still love them as we always did and always hope for a victory.

We have seen this team rise from a nobody, disappointed, we have seen their broken faces in 2007, we have seen them hounded by the media for every ball that was bowled, every wicket that was not taken but we had a captain who always believed, who knew the limitations and strength, who was unorthodox and responsible, but remember he too is human, the way he made up for his mistakes was incredible…. We found our true leader in him.

Besides all the celebrations that you saw after the big six, somewhere in the commentary box was the man who started it all, silently praying for his dream to reach the potential, the man who laid the foundation to this masterpiece, who taught us fearlessness and self belief, who always believed in the players (YUVRAJ SINGH was his discovery to the team), SAURAV GANGULY, he might not be in the team but I bet he must have been the happiest person on that ground, as the potential that he saw had been realized…thank you DADA!

Thank you Sri Lanka for being a worthy opponent for the final, you never let a billion people rest in peace and made the victory even sweeter. The last hurrah for the Indian team, who in this month and half long roller coaster ride gave me Brett lee’s blood, Strauss’s impeccable innings, Munaf’s “thoda jazbaathi ho gaya” against Pakistan, Nehra being badgered on facebook which was a sign of affection for me, Sehwag’s “ I don’t give damn even if I say I will give a damn” attitude, Sachin’s swansong , Dada’s cry for revenge against Australia, Yuvraj’s phoenix like rise from the ashes, golden words by Virat Kohli “He has carried the nation’s burden for 21 years, it's time we carried him on our shoulders” and last but not the least for making a nation crumbling under the pressure of being split into smaller states united at least for a day… the feeling has not yet sunk in I hope it never does…

you made me cry,grimace with disgust, hate you , love you, sit on the edge of my seat...you have given me something which i will never forget until i die...thank you for everything

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!