India Lifts The Cricket World Cup 2011 : The Nation bleeds blue

Yes, I bleed blue with a billion other Indian fans. Yes, I saw history being made, and I am proud of the fact that I witnessed it. Yes, this is one night I’m never ever forgetting in my life. What emotions, what celebrations. Yes, I saw God ( read SRT) get the glory he deserved. He couldn’t contain his tears of joy and neither can I contain my excitement and exhilaration on India winning the World Cup 2011 and getting the cup home after 28 very long years.

Virat Kohli summed it up for me. I quote, “Sachin Tendulkar has been carrying the burden of a billion fans for the past 21 years and it was time we carried him”. And carry him they did. The entire team put so much effort in all the departments and it was visible that this was a spirited and transformed Indian team.

The match started with confusion. The toss had to be repeated, as the first call wasn’t audible due to the noise caused by 33,000 fans who had filled the Wankhede to full capacity. Sri Lanka won the toss and put themselves into bat. Lanka made as many as 4 changes to their squad, bringing in Perera, Kapugedra, Kulasekara and Randiv for Mendis, Herath, Silva and Matthews. Mendis who had done so well throughout the tournament was dropped. A shocker. For the Indians, the big news was Sreesanth was playing ahead of Ashwin. A bad decision according to me, with Sreesanth proving me right and being highly ineffective.

A World Cup finl demands something special and what a bowling performance by Zaheer Khan in his first spell. He was out there to redeem himself for the 2003 debacle. With his first three overs being maidens, his figures at the end of his first spell read 5-3-6-1. Absolute master class! He suffocated Tharanga , which ultimately resulted in the opener’s dismissal with Sehwag taking a low catch. Special kudos should go to the veteran Zaheer for the leaps and bounds of progress he has shown ever since the 2003 final.

If the bowling spearhead was at his A game, the fielders were exceptional in aiding the bowlers. Yuvraj Singh at point was absolutely unbeatable and flung himself constantly to save atleast 3-4 certain boundaries. Suresh Raina was brilliant throughout, his usual self. SRT was running around with full dedication and even Munaf Patel was seen doing a good job. With just 31 runs scored in the first ten overs, Lanka were on the mat.

Sangakkara and Dilshan steadied the ship, but ultimately Dilshan fell. Enter Mahela Jayaweredene, Lanka’s main man who would turn the final around. There are a few players who have done especially well against Indian almost consistently, like Ponting and Kallis. Jayawardene is one of them and he showed his class on the night yet again. Having had a relatively poor tournament by his standards barring the big knock against minnows Canada, the stylish middle-order batsman turned on the heat and decided that the day was going to be his. Elegantly knocking the ball around to build a good partnership with his skipper as the duo added 62 before Sangakkara edged a very short delivery by Yuvraj which was begging tobe hit straight to the keeper, Mahela turned out to be Lanka’s saviour. Sangakkara was gone and with him went the much feared top order to give way to the much criticized Lankan middle order. The onus was on them to support Jayawardene who was going great guns.

Lanka’s middle order rose to the occasion. Samaraweera scored a valuable 21 and Kulasekara got 32, and what was important here was that they were there to support Mahela, who looked set to score a big knock as he was scoring at a strike rate above 100, playing sensibly, and getting boundaries at regular intervals. Sri Lanka were 211 at the end of 45 overs, and it was time for the batting powerplay. Sri Lanka got an astonishing 63 in the final five, with Perera scoring 22 of just 9. Zaheer returned for another spell but was taken apart this time. If his first 8 overs went for 25, his last 2 went for 35. Such was the batting prowess by Mahela and Perera. Mahela got a well deserved 100, a great knock and guided Sri Lanka to 274.

India were now faced with a target of 275 runs, 20-30 runs more then they would have liked after they had their opponents on the mat for a long time. The odds were against India as no team had chased more than 241 in WC final. The team chasing had won only 2 times out of the previous 9 editions. There was intense pressure and the openers had to click in order to give a boost to the chase. Alas, that was not to be the case.

It was the second ball of the innings and the crowd and the billions of fans were stunned. A failed review meant Sehwag was out for a duck, a wicket gone without a single run on the board. The onus was on the Master Blaster now. And trust me, he was looking good. Very good. But, the first ball of the 7th over changed all that. He pushed at an outside-off delivery and he was gone. The Lankan celebration said it all. The God was back in the hut, Indians were stunned and I am sure plenty of fans cried. This was Sachin’s last chance to get a WC, emotions were high and yet the Little Master had failed on the biggest occasion of them all.

They badly needed a partnership. Virat Kohli and Gautan Gambhir did just that, putting on 85 runs for the third wicket. Both of them played intelligent cricket, knocking the ball around, and getting boundaries when required and not letting the run rate climb up above 6 and a half at the max. Kohli got out to a stunning catch by Dilshan by his own bowling. Arguably, the catch of the tournament. He made a valuable 35. Then came the surprise move as Dhoni pushed himself up the order before the in form Yuvraj, and if this went wrong, it was almost all over for India. This strategy, or gamble, whatever you want to call it, paid off. These two put together a massive 109, batted together for 20 odd overs, and played brilliantly. Dhoni looked tentative in the beginning, but that was just the calm before the storm. Dhoni was back to his usual old self, hitting runs at will, rotating the strike, and getting the odd boundary. How he played Malinga and Murali using his wrists was amazing to watch, and I’m sure every cricket fan throughout the World enjoyed that. Murali and Malinga were tamed by Dhoni and Gambhir, and later Yuvraj. Gambhi was on 97, very close to the three figure mark, when calamity struck. He wandered down the pitch again, like against Pakistan and was clean bowled. It was a sad end to an amazing innings, but as Dhoni said, he had only himself to blame. Sri Lanka might have sensed a minor chance, but Yuvraj played a sensible innings and helped Dhoni see India through. The required run rate was around 6 throughout the last 15 overs of the innings, with finally, just 30 required off the last 5 overs. Malinga bowled a sensational over. But, it was all over in the 49th over, with Dhoni hitting a huge huge six to follow two boundaries in the previous over, to finish off the game in style and get the Cup Home. It was all over. The hardwork and dedication put in for the past 6 weeks had paid off.

It was an emotional win, with SRT not being able to control his tears, Harbhajan and Yuvraj pumped up and screaming wildly. One scene no India will ever forget is, SRT being carried on the shoulders of his teammates for the victory lap. Personally, this was the first time I had seen SRT so happy. And he deserved it. 453 matches and 18000 runs, Sachin had won a World Cup on his 6th attempt, the final feather in his cap. He has now achieved everything in the World of Cricket, maybe except a 300 in tests :). My heart says, that will come too.

MSD (91*)was adjudged the man of the match, for one of the best innings of his life and quite possibly the innings that will shape the future of Indian cricket. Nothing will be ever said against MSD again, for he will always be revered for the match winning knock. He has proved his critics wrong by displaying his cool, achieving the feat of winning a WC 28 years after the Great Kapil Dev and his boys did. Another man who silenced his critics was Yuvraj Singh. To use one word, he was special, throughout the tournament. Amazing fielding, 15 wickets, and 362 runs: a tally worthy of the Man of The Series in any tournament. Well done, Yuvraj Singh. You deserve it.

It is now India’s turn to rule the world in cricket. SRT, a true champion and relentless warrior has got the prize that has eluded him for so long. A Lankan defeat was a sad way to say goodbye to Muralitharan, another great champion just like Sachin, a man who has given so much to Sri Lankan cricket and will never be forgotten. Sri Lanka were good, but India were better. The power of a billion prayers worked in favour of the Men in Blue. Let’s rejoice and savour the moment, for India are now on top of the World!