It has been a week and yet I’m not able to pin down my emotions about India winning the T20 World Cup.
How fortunate I am, to be able to witness the third World Cup victory for India. Our previous generation only had one instance of such pure joy that is the 1983 World Cup. However, we have witnessed the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 50 over World Cup, and now the 2024 T20 World Cup.
We easily could have added the 2023 World Cup to that list if it wasn’t for that last game debacle. I wrote about it here, last year. Every sad memory of 19th Nov 2023, was washed away with joyful memories on 29th Jun 2024.
Virat’s magnificent batting, Rohit calmly captaining the ship, Hardik and Bumrah bowling the best spell of their lives, and the catch of Surya Kumar will always be itched in the hearts of fans.
What a match!
By no means, do I want to take any credit away from South Africa. They played amazing cricket that is why the contest was so exciting! The win mattered more because it was against a tough opponent.
After Virat single-handedly showed how to keep his nerves while batting in the final, Axer played freely. Shivam Dubey contributed too to take IND to a respectable total of 176. Now the onus was on the bowlers. As usual, Bumrah started magnificently but the middle over was undisputedly dominated by SA. They took Indian spinners to the cleaners. I guess, bringing the foreign players to IPL had its prize. And when things looked to be completely out of India’s hand, Rohit made a perfect call to bring in the quickies again. The quick fall of critical wickets, and the extra few minutes to set the fields, made SA a bit more nervous than they needed to be. Finally, after a great effort by the bowlers, the fielders took every opportunity that came, and soon enough, the boys were finally over the line.
The best example of how sports can bring people together is when Team India landed in Mumbai for their victory parade. Mumbai’s Marine Drive was completely packed with people cheering around the bus. It was raining but nobody cared. The players were casually peeping out of their windows and rooftops, waving to their fans. occasionally they were recording Instagram messages. the fans were going to lengths to capture a glimpse of their heroes. One man climbed a tree and tried to capture a picture of the Indian cricket team via his phone.
Meme worthy of a picture.
All this trouble for that one second when your favorite cricketer will pass. While you desperately wave your hands to catch his attention, he would not even notice your existence.
I did love the fact that they celebrated the victory lap again in the Wankade stadium. That was a great idea. People singing and cheering as the team walked around. what a brilliant expression of the emotions of the fans as well as the players. There was a presentation ceremony and Gaurav Kapoor did a fantastic job at it. I was especially happy that he interviewed most of the major players from the team. Even if it is for 5 minutes. I could see that Rahul Dravid’s voice had been completely changed due to either screaming or constantly talking. I was happy to see how senior players in the Indian team were so very clear about the goal. Everyone worked towards this goal since last so many years. There were no ego clashes.
Virat and Rohit, always have supported each other in their downtime. When Virat was the captain and Rohit was going through a bad patch, whenever he was asked if you should drop Rohit, he would just smile at the journalist. Do you know the caliber of Rohit? He always backed him up. The same happened when Virat was not playing well, Rohit simply brushed the question about dropping Kohli.
During the celebration presentation, Virat in particular kept on talking about others. He was the most adored player on the team yet he ensured that the limelight was on the teammates. In other interviews, I realized that he was not very confident until the final match. He was constantly getting out and he even spoke to the coach that he was not doing justice to his role. But everyone kept on giving him the confidence that when the moment came you would shine. I remember reading that Rahul Dravid said “I don’t want to jinx it, but I see a big inning coming from Virat.” That happened in the final. what a pleasure it was to watch him play. Virat scored 76 in the final. That laid the foundation for a good score and helped build the pressure from the beginning.
I am of that generation who grew up watching Sachin Tendulkar. That meant we were always heavily banking on our batting rather than bowling. But this young team was completely different. We were equally strong in both departments. Jasprit Bumrah did a fantastic job in bowling. A shy little boy who can wield the magic of swing bowling. He was constantly in his own zone and produced magnificent spells towards the end of the game. Arshdeep and Bumrah are a deadly combination and give a lot of confidence to the Indian fans.
Hardik Pandya. He had a tough few months. During his stint as a Mumbai captain, he was the most hated player. But today he was loudly applauded in the stadium. If you look at it, a lot of players will go through lean patches, but no one probably received as much hatred as Hardik. I would say he has his actions to blame too. Some years back he gave a scandalous interview in a Bollywood talk show. People started believing that side as the player’s personality. Ever since if he has not been performing well, he has been called various names. Honestly, it is not fair to judge a person based on his words or clothes. Unfortunately, people have gone to lengths to boo Hardik during Mumbai matches. It must have taken a toll on his mind. Because when the final was over and his contributions were noteworthy, he sobbed like a little boy. He felt that he redeemed himself. Those tears that he cried felt honest.
Before I wrap up this piece, I want to bring up a point that might blemish the win slightly. Since India brings in lots of television revenue, the match timings were adjusted. I don’t think India played a single day-night match in the Windies. The day-night match brings in a lot of different aspects of the game. The dew plays some role during the second innings. The ball might skid on the pitch and fielding can become a little difficult. I believe that’s exactly what happened in the 2023 50-over World Cup. Australia’s second-inning batting was much easier. Toss becomes even more vital. In the hush-hush corners of social media, there is a question that is often getting raised. If the match had been day night, would we have the same result as the final?
With the skill that the Indian team packs in, I don’t have any doubt that we would have won in any scenario. What do you think?
With Virat, Rohit, and Jaddu retiring, what would the Indian T-20 team would like? I guess, we will have to wait and see…