Last time I remember our team coming this close to glory was in the 2003 final against Australia. I am saddened to say that match was nothing like this one, one sided from the word go, Australia thrashed us in the match.
As our team was doing a round in the pavilion today, I noticed the look on Dhoni's face. HE LOOKED RELIEVED NOT ECSTATIC. There is a reason why I have written that in capitals because it is the knowledge behind that look that made all the difference. You are ecstatic when you are unsure about the outcome, when the result is a surprise, when the win seems something you have clinched from fate. Dhoni's look was one of relief because he KNEW we were going to win this, it was just a matter of time and the relief flooding his face was a silent" Thank God we waited it out to get where we KNEW we would". It was that belief that brought us all the way to the final, defeating old nemesis Australia and arch rivals Pakistan.
As many of the players said in the after match conference, the team had been training and planning, keeping the World Cup in mind for nearly a year now. I truly believe that this preparation and self belief showed in the squad. This was not a team that had just come into its own during ONE match, (as had the WC team in 2003 during its match against England), it was a team poised and prepared for victory. Except for a few hiccups and mistakes, it was a team that knew exactly what it was doing and what its goal was.
When I think deeper is this team a reflection of the changing face of the Indian youth, (after all it was the young brigade that brought us home, backed by the veterans on the team)? This is no longer a team that would stand by meekly in situations such as when Aamir Sohail showed Prasad where to look for the ball, and Prasad answered by bowling him out.... it is a team which will first tell YOU and some of your female relatives where to look for the said ball and then proceed to bowl you out. Somehow this team seemed to have much more controlled aggression than all the other teams as well as its predecessors and I believe the knowledge of being able to unleash that aggression assured us the victory... after all the threat of power works much better than power itself.
All in all, I am thrilled, as an Indian, as a cricket fan and most importantly as an individual who knows the feeling of dreaming a dream and making it a reality........
1 comment:
coudn't agree more, he have same attitude and temperment, as the Australian side of 2003. A skill, which was introduced to us by ganguly and was then honed by Dhoni. And above all the brilliant coaching of Gary. Btw good read :)
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