playing with great teams like Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. I was watching all these matches very religiously,ball to ball. Since matches began at 2.30 pm, I was even foregoing my one hour nap from 3 pm to 4pm which I (except for some extreme compelling reasons) never miss.That was the seriousness I gave to the match. I am certainly a hard core patriot to my conscience. In all these three critical matches there were moments of great anxiety. When Raina came to the rescue in the quarter final and along with Yuva Raj turned the fortune, it was a wonderful moment. Yuva Raj made brilliant bating scoring a little over a century. The fielding by Kohli,Raina,Sachin and all other team members was worth watching. The mighty Australians were sent back. Zaheer Khan displayed his talent as a professional once again. The whole of India went under extreme jubilation.
Of course, the semi-final between India and Pakistan was an event by itself. Sewag was dismissed early. As usual, Sewag started hitting from the beginning. Every one thought that the opening pair of Sachin and Sewag will last for a long time. After Sewag was out, the little master Sachin, the God of Indian Cricket took control. His brilliant 85 runs turned the course of the match. When Yuva Raj was bowled out, the moments were tense. But, the team spirit of our players which they displayed in fielding, bowling and extremely cautious approach by the team as a whole has indeed paid dividend. The skill played by Indian bowlers Zaheer,Harbajan,Munaf,Yuva Raj etc. have shaken the Pakistani batsmen. When India won by 29 runs in the semi-final defeating Pakistan, the whole nation rejoiced. The celebrations throughout the country, singing,dancing, crackers and what not. Thus, India was destined to play in the final with Sri Lanka.
With the talents displayed by our players in all the faculties,batting,bowling and of course, precise fielding my conscience was telling me that the outcome in Mumbai is for us. But, Sri Lankan team was in no way inferior with world's best spinner Murali and very fast bowlers like Melinga etc. and highly seasoned batsmen like Jaywardane,Snagaraka and others, it was no ones guess. Sri Lankans winning the toss (after confusion) and opted to bat, Indian bolwers kept the
opponents in their toe keeping the average very low. Zaheer Khan,Harbajan,Munaf, Yuv Raj etc, have again proved their worth. Luck did not favolur Sree Santh. But, he will come up to the expectation as appears to be a very sincere boy.
Jaywardane proved once again to be a strong man who cannot be dismissed easily and his brilliant century alongwith the performance of other batsmen of Sri Lanka put their total to a seemingly unbeaten 274. May be this score was even beyond the expectation of the Lankans themselves.
Indians started batting. When Sewag was declared out on the first ball, gloom pervaded through out Indian camp. But, fans still kept hope on Sachin. Every one expected that the pair of Sachin and Gambir will show miracles. Again disappointed when Sachin was dismissed early. Indian fans throughout may have lost hope.
To me, in my inner conscience was nourishing a feeling that some thing good will come handy. Though my wife told me to switch off the TV (she felt disappointed by the early dismissal of Sewag and Sachin), I said no and told that at the end India will be the winner. (This conviction of mine is due to the fact that I have had many occasions in my personal life where I had to face the odds and but for the mental courage I developed, I would have vanished by this time-no boasting please).
Gambir started batting.Slowly but steadly he started adding runs. His excellent 97 runs ( I felt sad he could not complete his century). Virat Kholi has also played his best and if I am not mistaken he has taken 40 quick runs. The entry of captaiin Dhoni has changed the tempo of the game. The captain leads from the front amd that is what he has done. After going slow for a few overs, he started playing the captains's innings and wonderfully every one started feeling that it can be any ones game now. Each and every ball appeared precious. What to speak, the end came with a fantastic sixer from Dhoni when a boundary (4) was needed for India to win.
Thus, India claimed the World Cup -2011.
I have a lot of appreciation for Raina,the small, always smiling boy excellent in field alongwith Kohli. Munaf, very energetic sincere boy from our Bharuch desrves special mention.
The scene in Wankhade after winning; I do not have words to explain. When Yuva Raj caught hold of Dhoni and cried out of joy and Sachin sheding tears and each and every member of the team hugging each other. Their joy knew no bounds so also the fans there and spread over the length and breadth of this great Nation. I was greatly touched by the sincerity and honesty of each and every member of the Team India, hard core patriots. Kudos to you all boys. Keep it up and keep Nation's pride up above your head.
I am greatly moved by the gestures of various State Govts giving them handsome cash awards,
houses and confering them honours. Surely, they all are deserving it.
Jai Hind !Published on 04.04.2011
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