Last Step that Counts

The World cup is well and truly over and as expected India , the favourites won .  As history suggests, it is easy to be underdogs and surpass expectations than to be a favourite and win.    This is not to deny the credit where it is due, in '83 when India were not expected to win a single match and won the cup.  The matches were played in alien conditions in front of few diehard fans who wanted to have a glimpse of their famous heroes in test cricket rather than ODIs.  There was hardly any expectation at home even when India reached the final, when they were expected to be thrashed by the mighty West Indies.  Hopes had evaporated during the half way mark in the final and nothing short of Kapil Dev dare devilry and inspiration could help them resurrect themselves which they did.

Though it is easy to compare the 83 win and the 2011 win, it would be more pertinent to compare the win against the closest India came to winning in 1987 and 2003 ( one at home and the other away).  India in 1987 , was the host and had the advantage of playing all their matches at home in an easier group.  In the semi final , they bowled first and conceded around 250 in the same ground and made heavy weather of the chase and eventually lost. Most batsmen played a shot too many whereas in 2003, India were on a match winning spree after the loss against Australia and came up against Australia in the final.  Strange selections of winning the toss and bowling first accompanied by the selection of Dinesh Mongia over Anil Kumble hurt India from the first over which Zaheer bowled.  India were chasing the dream from the first over and true to the script and contrary to million Indian hopes , Australia won emphatically.  

A few characteristics are unique to the eventual winner and while Australia had this in the previous editions, India had it in this one. The captain is as good as his team is the popular saying but the difference that a captain makes in crunch situations determines whether a side is on the winning side.    Dhoni is not one of the stereotypes , he is not like the previous world cup captains : the mercurial Kapil , reticent Azhar, process driven Dravid or the finicky Sourav.   He is one who combines all these virtues or deficiencies in one soul with a balance unseen till date from an Indian skipper.   He is blessed to have an allround skill of wicketkeeping and batting and being a keeper has a significant advantage of watching the action straight on rather than side on where you can guage the line and length of the bowlers effeciently.  Also on the lighter side , wearing a helmet and glasses conceals the pressure and reveals less to his opponents and his players about his state of mind which  has soaked up the pressure and sweat in equal measure.

He imparts belief in his team mates that causes are not lost the moment your opponent is going hammer and tongs at you and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel albeit a dimmer one.    A year ago in the IPL, one of my colleagues who has always been a fan of Dhoni remarked that he could pull CSK out of the dumps midway through the second season and he did at Dharmashala when it mattered most.  A similar situation was on offer in the final this time and he again promoted himself ,stuck to his task till the end and finished it with a flourish that would immortalise him in the annals of Indian cricket history. 

India are the World Champions today ,  the six of the last ball would find an equal footing with the Kapil catch of Richards and the world recognises and believes that India are the ruthless Australia of the late 90s.  Watching the World Cup from 1983 ,  I have also been a tiny part of the journey watching and supporting the Indian cause and this team has given me everlasting tears of joy and hope that we are emerging as a superpower in cricket atleast !!