Saturday, the second day of April, year 2011 would be written in golden words in the history of Cricket.
It was the day when India played against Sri Lanka in a nail biting final match and chased the score of 275 runs with such poise. They struggled, but finally managed to reach the target. It was the same day, 28 years ago, 2nd April 1983 when India had first seen the World cup under the captain ship of Kapil Dev. We had got many chances to win the World Cup again, but had to wait till 2nd April 2011, when MS Dhoni and his boys fulfilled the expectations of billions of Indians and brought home the ICC World Cup.
As we all know, Cricket is religion in India. People of different castes and religion unite to cheer for Team India and I am also one of them. I was hoping that maybe this is the time when we can do it! Atul, my husband was a cricket fanatic till some years back. But after the scams and match fixing news and poor form of the team, he shifted his energies following something else. But this time, once India was on the winning spree, he came back to follow cricket and started following the ICC world cup matches closely. Once we conquered Australia, there was no looking back. I asked him about his feeling about the next nerve wrecking match between India and Pakistan. He replied very positively that we are going to win against Pakistan and are also going to lift the world cup. Generally his predictions come true and on Saturday it really did!! Atul baba ki jai ho!!
I haven't experienced such a frenzy ever in my life. People were watching cricket, everywhere possible, with family and friends, at home, in multiplexes on huge screens. Everybody was clapping, cheering, shouting. Atul and I were acting like small kids, shouting and cheering for Team India. We celebrated the win by eating cake and watching the celebrations on all channels. The celebrations were on till wee hours of morning all over the country.
Sitting on my cosy bean bag at my home, I can imagine what tension MS Dhoni and his team had shouldered the responsibility and expectations of the entire country, which worships cricket. The team spirit, bonding, uebercool attitude of the boys and a lot of energy, efforts was visible in their performance in all the matches of the ICC World cup, but especially in the last 3 matches. The moist eyes of Bhajji, Yuvi, Master Blaster showed the world what that win meant for them and also showed the world what respect they have for each other and how much they mean to each other. Gary Kirsten, the coach had infused a new enthusiasm and a strong mind in the team yet he always remained out of the limelight. By seeing the happiness spill on the field out there, my eyes were moist too!
I was all praises for the team and was feeling very proud. I could just think of only two words.
Jai ho!
It was the day when India played against Sri Lanka in a nail biting final match and chased the score of 275 runs with such poise. They struggled, but finally managed to reach the target. It was the same day, 28 years ago, 2nd April 1983 when India had first seen the World cup under the captain ship of Kapil Dev. We had got many chances to win the World Cup again, but had to wait till 2nd April 2011, when MS Dhoni and his boys fulfilled the expectations of billions of Indians and brought home the ICC World Cup.
As we all know, Cricket is religion in India. People of different castes and religion unite to cheer for Team India and I am also one of them. I was hoping that maybe this is the time when we can do it! Atul, my husband was a cricket fanatic till some years back. But after the scams and match fixing news and poor form of the team, he shifted his energies following something else. But this time, once India was on the winning spree, he came back to follow cricket and started following the ICC world cup matches closely. Once we conquered Australia, there was no looking back. I asked him about his feeling about the next nerve wrecking match between India and Pakistan. He replied very positively that we are going to win against Pakistan and are also going to lift the world cup. Generally his predictions come true and on Saturday it really did!! Atul baba ki jai ho!!
I haven't experienced such a frenzy ever in my life. People were watching cricket, everywhere possible, with family and friends, at home, in multiplexes on huge screens. Everybody was clapping, cheering, shouting. Atul and I were acting like small kids, shouting and cheering for Team India. We celebrated the win by eating cake and watching the celebrations on all channels. The celebrations were on till wee hours of morning all over the country.
Sitting on my cosy bean bag at my home, I can imagine what tension MS Dhoni and his team had shouldered the responsibility and expectations of the entire country, which worships cricket. The team spirit, bonding, uebercool attitude of the boys and a lot of energy, efforts was visible in their performance in all the matches of the ICC World cup, but especially in the last 3 matches. The moist eyes of Bhajji, Yuvi, Master Blaster showed the world what that win meant for them and also showed the world what respect they have for each other and how much they mean to each other. Gary Kirsten, the coach had infused a new enthusiasm and a strong mind in the team yet he always remained out of the limelight. By seeing the happiness spill on the field out there, my eyes were moist too!
I was all praises for the team and was feeling very proud. I could just think of only two words.
Jai ho!
Great writeup. Sorry to play a spoil sport. But India won world cup on 25th June 1983. I've seen this is floating around a bit that it was on 2nd Apr 1983. But no one plays cricket in March / April in England, the weather just isnt conducive to cricket.
ReplyDeleteSo true about the frenzy. We saw the game with 10 - 12 of our friends with food, horns, flags and loads of fun!! The excitement we hit when MSD hit that winning six is unforgettable!!
Lets enjoy while it lasts!
What a memorable match it was... and what celebrations followed on the field thereafter!!! Truely history was made on 2nd April 2011... :-)
ReplyDeletewe missed on the celebration tht were gng on bk in india, on roads n also at everybody's home but we watched it here till 4 am and were damn excited abt it...it was a long time tht i enjoyed watching a 50 over match....it was a gr8 feeling on achieving something of gr8 value n flaunting it arnd among firangs :)
ReplyDeleteIt was something which happened first time in my lifetime SO FAR, can't forget that moment.
ReplyDeleteJust 1 correction - in 1983, day was 25th June, but it was again a golden day.