Looks like it took me exactly a week to get over it.
If 2011 was for Tendulkar I wish this time it was for Rohit and Rahul. It was not to be. I understood the meaning of “there is a slip between the cup and the lip “!
My sister called me with full family last Sunday and the first thing she said was, ” We thought all of you would be in Dream 11 Blue jersey in support of the Indian team”. I gave a confident look to everyone that since we had already got past New Zealand ( we wore the blue jersey as a family) in the semi-finals we would get the better of Australia. Inside I was always doubting if Australia will turn it on just like the way Ponting sledgehammered us in 2003. I was always wary of Australia and Pakistan losing matches in the league phase as they have this temperament to bounce back and peak at the right time. We saw Pakistan in the 1992 World Cup and this time it was Australia. Congratulations to Australia for the 6th time for outplaying a team that played out like champions for 10 consecutive games. We learned how good Australians were when it comes to big-match temperament.
I was travelling that morning ( 19th Nov) and in the Airport I saw patches of blue. All these people were going to see the match live. Forget boarding pass, they were showing Stadium pass to others. Some of them had booked a couple of days back. I was tuned in to some of the conversations. They were making friends in the name of cricket. Interestingly one gentleman told the other one, ” He stays in the b block”. The other one asked him, ” I have not seen you during the morning or evening walks”. I could sense the excitement of the people, ” seeing a match live in a stadium is a different experience”. Then there was a set of people who were very particular about the seats. They were talking about the advantages of Normal Gallery, Box to President Gallery. If you sit box (I guess) you will get a feel that the match is happening very far! I was also all ready to catch up with family. As I sat in the airline seat, memories of 2011 played in my mind. I remembered that Times of India Headline, ” Nation takes a breath“.
In the last week, I have read many articles on what happened to India in the World Cup and some of them fascinated me. I was inspired by the different perspectives of writers. Oz and Even: OZ wins, Aussies Headbutt India, Win or Lose, Cricket is Us, Crown on Australia’s head heartbreak for our heroes, Pat on the back. Some of them were clever plays on words and all the articles had one thing in common which hailed the indomitable spirit of Australians. I had once heard that Australians do not believe that winning is everything, to them winning is the only thing.
Even if you ask me years later, I will remember this World Cup for the domination of this Indian team over every other team. 2011 I fondly remember Yuvraj Singh ( my favourite), but this World Cup interestingly all the playing 11 turned out to be my favourites for what they did when they were asked to do it. Every time we saw each player we knew what they were going to do and they applied it nicely and that is what made outcomes so much in our favour. Every ball they bowl or when they bat we expected an event out of it.
It was game time and as we sat down to see the match, there was a sense of insecurity pervading me in the first 15 minutes as we saw how the Australian fielding, particularly Warner and Marnus were saving around 20 runs. Then it happened. The catch I believe won the match- of Rohit Sharma by Head. It reminded me of Kapil Dev taking that difficult catch of Viv Richards which was one of the reasons for our win in 1983. From there on I was getting a sense of insecurity. When Australia started the chase we had a glimmer of hope with the wickets falling in quick succession. But by the 30th, I retired hurt and moved away from the living room to my room and was busy trying to change my mood and was reading. Finally, I was there to see the finish. The rest of my family had by then left the living room and were busy getting occupied. I invited all of them to see the prize distribution ceremony. I particularly wanted my younger daughter to go through the same. She had a very poignant question, “How could we lose?”. She saw that we had won all 10 matches and she couldn’t absorb it in her mind just like K.L Rahul tweeted a couple of days back :
“Still hurts,” confessed K L Rahul, who kept wickets and stacked up a respectable number of runs as a middle-order batter, after the fierce battle for the World Cup ended with Australia beating India in the finals. “Move on,’’ advised veteran Kapil Dev, the legendary captain of the 1983 World Cup-winning cricket squad. We are still licking our wounds and wondering what went wrong. There are theories galore on Dry pitch, dew factor, luck of toss and so forth. At the end of the day, I decided to get over it by writing this blog and thanking the entire fraternity and also the pavilion show which made us understand the nuances of the game. For the first time, my wife and I had discussions about the technical nature of the game and I have seen her extreme reactions when somebody was misfielding. That made me realise her extremes, thank you World Cup cricket!
There was a Times of India article titled on Oct 1st 2023, ” Why the ODI needs this World Cup“. It mentioned that the day format is no longer a cosy fit in the cricket’s lucrative T20 ecosystem. Another article which came on Nov 21st 2023 carried, The future isn’t so tense for ODI’s with the subtext India’s rollicking run to the final, Afganistan’s fairy tale decimation of some major teams, Australia’s uncanny ability to unleash their best in the knockouts and some memorable individual performances ensured that the tournament picked up the pace and kept fans engaged. The 50-over format is alive and kicking.
I want to thank the entire team personally for doing their best. I look forward to seeing and hearing media and veteran cricketers praise this entire lot. That was music to my ears. What the full team including all the support staff did awaken the spirit to play this game as a team and the camaraderie was very much evident on and off the field ( Best fielder award ceremony). A bad day in the office will not take that sheen away! Thank you, Rohit and Rahul and your team associates for the moments and memories you gifted to us. Another news headline was eye-catching,” Dominated by India, Won by Australia“. There is no denying the fact that a lot of people will not play or be there for the 2027 World Cup and so will be remembered fondly with a tinge of sadness as the “greatest team to never win a World Cup”
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