Finally the day has come. The day world cup will remember fondly. The day it was won by him. Now the world cup can retire peacefully and spend its days on its front porch sleeping on a hammock. Although he did not play a major part in the final, he was the reason why they were there. The whole of India had dreamt of this moment. He had tears of joy, whole country cried with him. Team mates carried him around the ground for the victory lap. As the Virat Kohli rightly put, For twenty one years he had carried India on his shoulders and they were paying him back. Dhoni had told that this world cup will be won for him and it seemed that he himself would have to win it. But when needed the team stepped up and delivered the cup.
It was a tense moment. People had been expecting India to play in the final ever since the world cup schedule was announced. Huge pressure moment for the team. And this team led by Dhoni deserved to win. Sure Dhoni has taken some bold steps which have paid off most of the times. Would that make him shrewd? I still would say he is a good captain, not great. His success rate for bold decisions of the day was 50%, which will not mean intelligent captain. You have 50% chance in coin flip. When you call it right, you don't say that you are a very intelligent gambler and go start betting on more. Move of getting Sreesanth backfired. He would need more of such victories to stand along side Llyods and Kapils and Imran Khans. I feel one day he will. What gives me authority to judge a player? How many international matches have I played? Doesn't matter. In the end the team is playing for people like me and I am entitled to my opinion.
There were couple of surprises early. Biggest being, I woke up very early ( read 5AM. Last time I woke up at 5 AM was when my dad use to wake me up for my II PU exams. He was up and excited and I used to slowly nod at the books) to watch the match. I had asked my wife to wake me up. Being very Indian to the core in time sense, she tried calling at 7:30. I, after knowing her for some years now, had a backup system ready. Tea was ready and they said Sreesanth was playing instead of Ashwin which made me choke on tea. Nehra, whose bones are made of wafers apparently, had injured himslef for the 128186138th time and was unavailable. Sanga thought he can better it and put Randeev in ahead of Mendis. I am not sure how smart a move it is to select someone who was not even in squad till few days ago ahead of someone who, even though did not take much wickets, had a tight line and an economy rate of 3.14. (stat courtesy : cricinfo) Turns out neither did Sanga. After the toss confusion, Lankans decided to bat. Turns out the lady luck who handles toss division doesn't like Dhoni much.
Anyways, the beginning was near perfect for the men in blue and Zak bowled three maiden and sent Tharanga back. That was one of the finest spells by him. Runs came at a steady pace and in second surprising move Kulasekara was sent in at no.7. This was a good move as he helped Mahela to up the ante. Now, Mahela is a wonderful strokemaker and he showed why he is regarded as a class act. I could not resist applauding the delightful shots all around the park. He is the sixth player to score a century in world cup finals. Perera who came in after Kulasekhara was out, carted few big ones and the score reached 274. Turns out India can screw up the batting powerplay while bowling too. Zak, who had been wonderful in his first 5, went for 54 in his last 5. The over rate was terrible by the way.
When India came to bat, they came with a legacy of not winning a single chase in finals against Ravan XI since 2000. Three of which were lost by more than 100 runs (stat courtesy : cricinfo). But things have changed now I thought. Wham.. Slinga' takes Sehwag off in second delivery of the innings. Despair.. The old bollywood movie scene where a lady, on hearing the news of her husband's death, screams "Nahiiiiii" and breaks bangles started running in my head.... Soon Slinga' did the unthinkable. Lacking any team spirit, he claimed the wicket of his Mumbai Indian's captain. The MI owner was watching the match too, Lasith. Tough Luck. Everyone was gasping in horror. Stadium went silent. He was gone.. Now there were two ladies breaking bangles..
Virat and Gambhir steadied the ship and kept rotating strikes. Two good lads playing wonderful knocks in the match of their lives. Virat was unlucky to be out. Just when you are about chant "Yuvi.. Yuvi..", what do you see? It's captain courageous himslef. Dhoni had promoted himself. Turned out to be a good move. He can play well under pressure, that Dhoni. He and Gambhir built one of the most significant partnerships ever in the history of Indian ODI cricket. Dhoni played a captain's knock, one of the greatest innings' I have ever seen. The calmness with which he collected runs making sure that the run rate never climbed was very impressive.
My roommate and I were relieved to see this cool and calculated innings by Gambhir. 97* and 3 short of a marvellous century. Suddenly, he becomes a headless chicken again. Down the ground he goes only to see his middle stump pegged. Bad choice. But still, that was a very good knock and it felt bad to see him miss a deserving century. Did Lankan hopes revive? Not a chance. We still had Man of the series Yuvi. Dhoni even though struggling was still too good for the Lankans. Finally with four required, he hoists the ball into orbit. India have won. India have won. And as David Lloyd requested, Tuk Tuks had started. India had wone a deserving world cup. Beating Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in style and as a team. As I saw him being carried by the team, I had to agree. He deserved it more than anyone ever did. An incredible sportsman winning the ultimate prize. What can be better?
Watching the match via streaming can be a rather irritating task. Just when the situation became tense, the servers would go off air. Or when the batsmen are about to play a stroke, streaming would hang. I do not know how it chose the precise moments. And in between we had Veet trying to show us what beauty feels like. Or Airwick showing how good scents can change the house dynamics. One needs the patience to endure all this for the good bits (There.. I summed up marriage for you) and it was worth all this. Eventually my work is going to push me back to depression mode. But for next few days, I will feel happy. Let me savour the moment. WE ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS......
It was a tense moment. People had been expecting India to play in the final ever since the world cup schedule was announced. Huge pressure moment for the team. And this team led by Dhoni deserved to win. Sure Dhoni has taken some bold steps which have paid off most of the times. Would that make him shrewd? I still would say he is a good captain, not great. His success rate for bold decisions of the day was 50%, which will not mean intelligent captain. You have 50% chance in coin flip. When you call it right, you don't say that you are a very intelligent gambler and go start betting on more. Move of getting Sreesanth backfired. He would need more of such victories to stand along side Llyods and Kapils and Imran Khans. I feel one day he will. What gives me authority to judge a player? How many international matches have I played? Doesn't matter. In the end the team is playing for people like me and I am entitled to my opinion.
There were couple of surprises early. Biggest being, I woke up very early ( read 5AM. Last time I woke up at 5 AM was when my dad use to wake me up for my II PU exams. He was up and excited and I used to slowly nod at the books) to watch the match. I had asked my wife to wake me up. Being very Indian to the core in time sense, she tried calling at 7:30. I, after knowing her for some years now, had a backup system ready. Tea was ready and they said Sreesanth was playing instead of Ashwin which made me choke on tea. Nehra, whose bones are made of wafers apparently, had injured himslef for the 128186138th time and was unavailable. Sanga thought he can better it and put Randeev in ahead of Mendis. I am not sure how smart a move it is to select someone who was not even in squad till few days ago ahead of someone who, even though did not take much wickets, had a tight line and an economy rate of 3.14. (stat courtesy : cricinfo) Turns out neither did Sanga. After the toss confusion, Lankans decided to bat. Turns out the lady luck who handles toss division doesn't like Dhoni much.
Anyways, the beginning was near perfect for the men in blue and Zak bowled three maiden and sent Tharanga back. That was one of the finest spells by him. Runs came at a steady pace and in second surprising move Kulasekara was sent in at no.7. This was a good move as he helped Mahela to up the ante. Now, Mahela is a wonderful strokemaker and he showed why he is regarded as a class act. I could not resist applauding the delightful shots all around the park. He is the sixth player to score a century in world cup finals. Perera who came in after Kulasekhara was out, carted few big ones and the score reached 274. Turns out India can screw up the batting powerplay while bowling too. Zak, who had been wonderful in his first 5, went for 54 in his last 5. The over rate was terrible by the way.
When India came to bat, they came with a legacy of not winning a single chase in finals against Ravan XI since 2000. Three of which were lost by more than 100 runs (stat courtesy : cricinfo). But things have changed now I thought. Wham.. Slinga' takes Sehwag off in second delivery of the innings. Despair.. The old bollywood movie scene where a lady, on hearing the news of her husband's death, screams "Nahiiiiii" and breaks bangles started running in my head.... Soon Slinga' did the unthinkable. Lacking any team spirit, he claimed the wicket of his Mumbai Indian's captain. The MI owner was watching the match too, Lasith. Tough Luck. Everyone was gasping in horror. Stadium went silent. He was gone.. Now there were two ladies breaking bangles..
Virat and Gambhir steadied the ship and kept rotating strikes. Two good lads playing wonderful knocks in the match of their lives. Virat was unlucky to be out. Just when you are about chant "Yuvi.. Yuvi..", what do you see? It's captain courageous himslef. Dhoni had promoted himself. Turned out to be a good move. He can play well under pressure, that Dhoni. He and Gambhir built one of the most significant partnerships ever in the history of Indian ODI cricket. Dhoni played a captain's knock, one of the greatest innings' I have ever seen. The calmness with which he collected runs making sure that the run rate never climbed was very impressive.
My roommate and I were relieved to see this cool and calculated innings by Gambhir. 97* and 3 short of a marvellous century. Suddenly, he becomes a headless chicken again. Down the ground he goes only to see his middle stump pegged. Bad choice. But still, that was a very good knock and it felt bad to see him miss a deserving century. Did Lankan hopes revive? Not a chance. We still had Man of the series Yuvi. Dhoni even though struggling was still too good for the Lankans. Finally with four required, he hoists the ball into orbit. India have won. India have won. And as David Lloyd requested, Tuk Tuks had started. India had wone a deserving world cup. Beating Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in style and as a team. As I saw him being carried by the team, I had to agree. He deserved it more than anyone ever did. An incredible sportsman winning the ultimate prize. What can be better?
Watching the match via streaming can be a rather irritating task. Just when the situation became tense, the servers would go off air. Or when the batsmen are about to play a stroke, streaming would hang. I do not know how it chose the precise moments. And in between we had Veet trying to show us what beauty feels like. Or Airwick showing how good scents can change the house dynamics. One needs the patience to endure all this for the good bits (There.. I summed up marriage for you) and it was worth all this. Eventually my work is going to push me back to depression mode. But for next few days, I will feel happy. Let me savour the moment. WE ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS......
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