History, And Its Weird Habits

They have lived up to the hype. The blue has bled all over the country.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not have picked another day to play the innings he played in the final against the Sri Lankans.

His last six tore up the skies, and brought the heavens down.

India exploded in joy. The Indians are the world champions, for the second time.

Nearly three decades have gone by and much water has flown under the London Bridge since Kapil Dev held aloft the Prudential Cup in a golden sunlit Lord’s balcony.

Over a billion Indians heaved a collective sigh of relief as MS Dhoni led from the front to beat a fighting Sri Lanka to win the World Cup at a jam-packed Wankhede Stadium adorned with stars and celebrities.

The Indians were not only chasing a steep target of 274 but history set by Kapil Dev’s team in 1983. They had come tantalizingly close in 2003 but the Australians outclassed them on a cruel March evening.

Then, the debacle in the Caribbeans four years later.

Somehow, this team under the commandments of a cool Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten had been thrust upon with the mantle of winning the World Cup, which would in all probability be the last edition for Sachin Tendulkar.

Indian hopes did sink when the Sri Lankans cut loose in the batting power play in the last five overs of the innings—scoring over 60 runs—riding on the crest of Mahela’s magical innings. Chasing 274 against quality bowlers like Malinga and Murali in a World Cup final under lights is like climbing a mountain on one leg.
Mahela’s century knocked on the doors of history as all the centurions in World Cup finals have ended up on winning sides. Such was the wizardry and touch of the man that Nasser Hussain was right when he said Mahela didn’t play a shot in anger. There was only one person in the entire Wakhede Stadium who couldn’t watch his class act live, and that was his wife, who was too tensed to watch her husband play. She hid her eyes behind a sheet of paper and prayed for him.

It is a pity that it didn’t turn out to be a match-winning innings, nor was he adjudged the man of the match. But, then Dhoni could not keep his credibility at stake any longer, and had decided to play out of his skin.

With the ‘M Factor’ in play, 274 could have tricked the Indians into old habits.
The Indians have famously choked before—and their World Cup record against the Sri Lankans was nothing great to write home about. But, the team that has sent the Australians and Pakistanis packing is made of sterner stuff.

Malinga took a leaf out of Riaz’s book to trap Sehwag in front of the wicket. And, Sachin, who was in much sweeter touch than in his infamously scrappy knock against Pakistan, promised much before he nibbled at a slightly swinging delivery from his Mumbai Indians team-mate Malinga.

With its two match-winners back in the hut for 30-odd runs, India could have gone back to its old habit of folding like a pack of cards, which we all are familiar with. The Indians have on many occasions burnt huge holes in our swelling hearts.
But the times have changed.

Credit must be given to the two young men—Gambhir and Kohli—for shutting the Sri Lankans out of the game. One more early wicket, and the Sri Lankans would have been all over the Indians.

As the two went about their business of rebuilding and consolidating the innings with sensible cricket, the Sri Lankan body language went through a transformation. The spring in their stride disappeared, their shoulders drooped, heads hung. Their ground fielding began to lose the sharpness. The fielders fumbled and bowlers became pedestrian.

Interestingly, Murali, playing his last international game, was like a magician who had forgotten his trick. There was no hiss or bite from him, and Dhoni hardly let go an opportunity to pounce on him and cut or whack him for fours.
History has its own weird ways of making itself strange. Neither Sachin nor Murali could leave a mark in the match. They might never again play each other in an international match. Murali should have given a better farewell during the presentation ceremony.

What if Sachin scored the century of century in last night’s match? What if Murali spun the Indians into knots and won the Cup?

Somehow, history doesn’t want to be known too indifferent to the aspirations of the Little Master. Almost all the great players are part of a World Cup-winning. History couldn't deny Sachin this. If this Cup had slipped from his lips, he could have never kissed it.

The Indians have now joined the West Indians and the Australians by winning the World Cup more than once.

The Caribbeans won the Prudential Cup in 1975 and 1979 and were on the verge of taking it home for the third time when the Indians came from nowhere to humble them and create history and make the game a passion across the subcontinent.

The West Indians had ruled world cricket in true Calypso style, and the slide began once a number of champion players retired. The fast bowlers vanished, so did batsmen of stuff. The once breeding ground of champion bowlers and batsmen, the Red Stripes league failed to produce any real winners.

Towards the end of the 80s, the tears of Kim Hughes had dried away, and a staunch-looking Allan Border had taken a young Australian team under his wings and begun to turn it around.

The skipper’s slow turners created a momentary madness in Mike Gatting in the Reliance Cup final, and the English skipper’s top-edged reverse sweep set the rot in. Since winning that World Cup, the Aussies had been the undisputed champions till the fag end of last decade.

They won it three more times, two times denying Asian teams—the Indians in 2003 and Sri Lankans in 2007. Before that they had squashed the dreams of the South Africans—the perennial bride’s maid.

But, now it is all about Team India.

The win will bring about a second wave of cricket passion across the country. The game will once again be played in the dingy lanes and dried up paddy fields.

The win will also bring about new line of businesses, and the cricketers will become millionaires, and be envied by all. Hockey lovers will crib, footballers will kick in angst, boxers and wrestlers will flex their muscles, but the fact is that in India cricket is a national passion.

Dhoni and his boys have proved that it is all about ‘team’ India. We can’t single out a player as the architect of the Indian World Cup victory. Everyone in the team has chipped in one way or the other.

And, it was good that the Indians were made to sweat early in the tournament—it helped everyone get a hang of what’s it being out there in the middle and under pressure.

We know one thing. Team India created history last Saturday night. Only time will tell its implications.

My mother with rheumatic knees cooked chicken to celebrate. My five-year-old nephew cheered Dhoni till the winning runs.

The game runs in households across the country—in mansions and in the zero-watt houses and huts. Dhoni, Sachin and boys are the heroes who have proved that ‘impossible is nothing’.

For the time being, they will forget their pains and hardships. They will keep aside the many rejections and dejections. They will bury the hatchet with neighbours, and forget about party politics and forgive communal atrocities.

They will just ignore WikiLeaks, and the Maoists. The will look beyond the 2G scam and the creepy middlemen.

They will do just one thing: celebrate. For, India has won the World Cup.

Dhoni has walked up to Mr Kapil Dev, and sat next to the man on a summit built on the dreams of a billion people.