Yes! The dream has finally been realised, after quarter of a century - in a manner almost identical. Only the stage is different, as are the protagonists. 25th June, 1983, English Summer producing the best of One Day cricket, who would have given the Indian daredevils under Kapil Dev whisker of a chance to beat the almighty West Indies to lift the World Cup of Cricket? Similarly, MS Dhoni went to South Africa with an inexperienced, young but inspired bunch of lads to compete against the might of Twenty-20 powerhouses such as Australia, England, South Africa and Pakistan. And let alone redemption of the pride lost in West Indies earlier this year, no one cared to care much about this TEAM. But they themselves cared, and cared so well that the Indian swansong still continues even after 24 hours of the historic World Cup triumph against arch rivals Pakistan.
The architects of the emphatic victory were energetic, confident, young, talented, and above all, proud. Proud of being at the big stage against all odds.
Gautam Gambhir once again showed pure class by knocking a flamboyant 75 en route to providing once again a solid start for India. In the absence of Virender Sehwag, and with wickets regularly falling at the other end, the dashing Delhi opener held fort at one end and denid Pakistan a run over the Indian Team. Along with Gambhir, if there was any other man who can be singled out for his contribution to the win, he is Irfan Pathan. The mercurial all-rounder tore apart the Pakistan middle order with 3 quick and important wickets and sounded an astounding comeback into international cricket.
Yet the Pakistani team also deserves equal praise for the manner in which they fought the battle. Accurate bowling restricted India to a modest total below 160 and then they came out to bat in a positive fashion. Imran Nazir stroked the ball beautifully but it was poor shot selection by Pakistani batsmen that took the game away from them. RP Singh was special in this tournament, with miserly bowling and wicket taking knack. It was left to Misbah ul Haq again to get Pakistan to the shores, and boy did he make a match out of it! With late strikes by Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir, he ensured that it would be a cliffhanger, as 13 were needed from the last over. A poor Joginder Sharma, who perhaps has learnt bowling in an altogether different school was entrusted with the hopes of 1 billion Indians, only to send them on a toss by starting with a wide. A shocker followed as super cool Misbah despatched a pathetic full toss over the ropes. With 6 required off 4, the last thing that was required was a poor ball, and bingo! Joginder obliged by bowling another help yourself full toss outside the off stump. Only this time Misbah had made up his mind too early to clear short fine leg and mishit the ball to Sreesanth, thus handing the victory to India.
Huh! 5 runs was the margin of victory, but no one will remember that. The bottomline reads,
INDIA - WORLD TWENTY-20 CHAMPIONS!
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