When will the clock strike 28 years Again..

In a country of multi-ethnicity and varied culture, there is one universal “phenomena” which strikes the heart’s chord of every individual in the great country called India – Cricket. It was year 1983, when against all odds, India did win the world cup for the first time. Not only the people but the players themselves were start struck at their success. It was an unexpected phenomena that happened in their lives and made them immortals in the pages of history. Zoom out to the year 2011 and you will see a completely new picture. Over the years Indian cricket has seen a sea of changes both in attitude and self believe. Now when we play against the Aussies or South Africa it is not Warne, Donald or Macgrath that eyes the Indian batsman down. Now we stand tall and reply back with the willow. Now players like Bhajji and Sreesanth needs to be controlled because they tend to be too “aggressive”. Now we are also penalized for abusing and over appealing.

When India were crowned the 2011 World Champions, no one was surprised, they were expected to win. We came along a long way to be regarded as worthy and tough opponents over the years. This didn’t happen in a fluke just like that. This ball was set to roll long back during the tenure of Dada. After the successful and eventful era of Mr Azharuddin, cricket in India saw a sea of changes under the leadership of the Prince of Kolkata – Sourav Ganguly. As Kapil Dev aptly puts it, ” He is the one who was instrumental to change the thought process, that where the real change took place. Sourav Ganguly instigated the idea in the Indian team that WE CAN DO IT”, and so we did.

Many also said the golden era of Indian cricket will end soon as most of the senior players will fade out. But the promise that new blood has shown is not to be neglected. So all in all the future of Indian cricket is set. With iron clad confidence of Dhoni, the master blaster himself, our own ruthless pace attack combined with the unparalleled spin attack makes India not only a formidable force in World Cricket now but also in years to come.

It all about keeping the confidence not only in one self but also within the team. It is the believe that “WE CAN”, that will take India to newer heights. This will take a lot of effort and self believe but that is the key to the ultimate pinnacle of things. It is not about winning matches one after the other and create winning streaks but how you bounce back after one defeat that separates teams from ARMY.

It took us 28 years to realize again, how it feels to proclaim ourselves that WE ARE THE CHAMPS, but i don’t the wait will be that long anymore.

Halla India!!