(This is a very long post. Disjointed and unorganized. It is a post 28 years in the making but I did not realize it till I sat down to actually write it. I can remember every little detail about the 2nd of April, 2011 like it was (day before) yesterday but just not in sequence! My reminisces about the day are also like that. I nearly deleted this post because of its rambling nature until I was convinced that I should publish it nevertheless because there are people who want to read what I write!)
...Oh My God! I think I may have just cost India the World Cup. How could I be so stupid?! It is 3:10am and I am driving east on Maple Street approaching the 204th street intersection. The light is red and I tell myself, if it stays red India loses, if it turns green India wins. It turns green! Phew! But not satisfied with dodging that bullet, I decide that if the light stays green until it is no longer visible in my rearview mirror then victory is assured. Oh no...oh no...oh no... Phew! I can no longer see it but then I reach 168th street and turn left. Oh dear, I can see the traffic light to the left in the distance, still green but how long can it hold on? Idiot!! How could I be so stupid?!!
Miracle of miracles, it stays green the whole time! India is going to win! After that - Never. A. Doubt. Honestly, God promise.
...I reach D's house. D is Sri Lankan and by the time the captains are ready to toss there are 4 Sri Lankans and one Indian in the house. All 5 of us are praying that Kumar Sangakkara wins the toss. Yes, me too. I had a "vision" the night after we beat Pakistan that MS Dhoni (and Sachin Tendulkar, I must confess) will be around when the winning runs are scored. Which means Masada needs to lose the toss so Sri Lanka can bat first.
...Watching on WillowTV's solitary commercial-free channel is such a beautiful thing. No ads, no interruptions, no nothing. I get to watch the entire "toss episode" and wonder about the magnanimity of Kumar Sangakkara to readily agree to toss even after he claimed to have called it correctly the first time. Hmmmmmmm.
...Sri Lanka makes 4 (four) changes. The most perplexing for me is the omission of Ajantha Mendia. I know he has not been much of a force against India in the past 3 years, but still the dude was having a World Cup that Harbhajan Economy Singh would give up his first- and second-born children for. Mendis - 5 matches, 7 wickets, economy rate 3.14. Economy Singh - 9 matches, 9 wickets, economy 4.48. Panic in the Lankan camp!
...The Sri Lankan national anthem is rhythmic and beautiful to listen to, but it goes on and on. Like the ending of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Lotur rotak, to my blog regulars). Just when you think it is going to end, it starts up again. And then again. Clocking in at a mere 52 seconds, Jana Gana Mana seems almost like a remix version.
...Before the inning starts, I always tell myself the score that I will be happy to restrict the opposition to and no matter how the other team starts or ends, that is the score I reference when the inning is done to figure out my team's chances of winning. My par score for today: 267.
...ZAK begins with a dream-like 4-3-2-1 before settling for 5-3-6-1. At the other end, Sreesanth, who looks like he stuck a finger in a power socket just before he got onto the field, is leaking boundaries. Leaking is the right word, until the dam bursts and he (almost) undoes all of ZAK's hard work. This punt failed royally, Masada. In the semi-final, the first extra was conceded by India in the 37th over. Today, it takes 5 balls. Omens, omens. Surely not. Nah!
...The most heartening sight of the World Cup (until about 8 hours later) is seeing Yuvraj Singh flying around at point! Yuvi is BACK! I don't know where you were but you picked a good time to come back. The real reason for India's resurgence in the field during the knockout stages is not Yuvi, but the boy from UP - Suresh Raina. What a fielder! Right up there with the de Villiers of the world. Raina, Yuvi and Kohli put the squeeze on the Sri Lankans and carry the rest of the team with them. Is that really Sreesanth parrying the ball back? Can that really be ZAK throwing caution to the wind? Masada has conned the entire world with an underappreciated masterstorke. Earlier in the tournament, when asked about the abysmal fielding standards he did not try to defend them (like Dravid or Ganguly were wont to do) instead admitting openly that it sucked and that it was what it was and we should not fret about it as it was not going to improve.
"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist."
Keyser Söze
When you set the bar so low, it lulls not only your supporters but also the opposition. Suddenly, even routine stops (which, honestly, many of them were) seem like jabs to the gut. This is not the Indian fielding we were counting on. Oh dear!, think the Lankans. The greatest trick Dhoni pulled this World Cup was to convince people that Indian fielding did not exist.
...Economy Singh begins round the wicket. A long time ago, in a galaxy right here, Economy never went around the wicket, preferring to watch batsmen flick him away ball after ball. Then he developed that abomination - the doosra - and now almost exclusively comes round the wicket. From one extreme to another. Where's Chris Broad when you need him?
...Am I the only one who thinks that Economy is the epitome of a bully? If things are going his way, he is in your ears and jumping around. Slap his bowling around a little bit and he shrivels in the spotlight.
...Dilshan reaches 499 runs in the World Cup. D, my host, panics when I ask him, rather slyly, whether Dilshan can reach 500 runs in the World Cup. Not shy about using swear words, D focuses his attention on getting Dilshan to 500 and lets me know (very politely by his standards).
...But you see, that was just mis-direction on my part. While D is busy taunting me, Danger-man Dilshan is gone, dragging a ball from outside the leg-stump onto the wickets! By the way, Dilshan, flick, flick, flick, not sweep, sweep, sweep when facing Economy. Let that be a lesson to you.
...Mahela Jayawardene, the man with the silken touch, is simply gliding his way towards a date with Destiny and no one on the Indian team seems to be paying attention. Achtung! I see Jayawardene and wonder, why wasn't there a place for VVS Laxman in any World Cup squad? Dinesh Mongia?!! I lose my focus while I think about Dada's lucky charm from the 2003 World Cup (why else was he playing, I ask you?).
...Simon Taufel is umpiring the game. I see him and I picture a man in a poncho, cigar in his mouth, laconic as ever, leaving only dead bodies in his wake. "You see, my mule don't like people laughing." Is there a more assured umpire in the game? Aleem Dar is a close second and I am glad both are umpiring this game. Thank goodness the domination of the Aussies has ended, thereby enabling Taufel to officiate a World Cup final.
...Ravi Shastri starts his favorite parlor game - guess the final score. (This ranks right up there with: When will the team declare in this Test match?). Without fail, by the middle of the inning he begins guessing what the final score could be, then proceeds to second-guess himself with reckless abandon the rest of the evening, before finally proclaiming that the team was "20-30 runs short. Game on!" Today, he raises the specter of a 230 score and then proceeds to be amazed and astonished when the Sri Lankans reach 275. Dude, before the inning started I was looking to restrict them to 267. The fact that they took it to 274 made if 55-45 in favor of the Lankans in my book. Everyone now seems to say, "If Viru gets off to a quick start....." Gah!
...ZAK reaches 7-1-16-2. No signs yet of the carnage to follow. Only, it was not a carnage but more of a seductive assault by Jayawardene. ZAK finishes with 3-0-44-0. A tale of two halves. But no sweat. 267 (plus an extra 7) was always on the cards from the start of the inning, as far as I was concerned.
...Truth be told, I figure a Sehwag book-end to the World Cup is in store. Mahela began and ended the World Cup with a century. Surely, Sehwag will duplicate that. Malinga takes care of that omen in two balls. Don't review it, Viru, unless you hit the ball. Well, you didn't, and you are gone. In 2003 you were the lone gunman in the final against the Aussies and we lost. Today you get out early, we are going to win. You cannot battle omens like that.
Finding positive omens, at short notice, is my specialty.
...SRT is batting like a dream. He unfurls his patented check-straight-drive. This is good. Also, a lesson for Sehwag. When Viru first came on the scene, this was one of the shots he liked to play. Now, after the 175, he has forgotten to bat in straight lines and paid the price in both the semi-final and the final. I hope he rectifies this in time for the tour to West Indies (I could care less about the IPL).
...Eighteen runs short of 500, SRT perishes to the very shot he eschewed in that seminal 241* in Sydney so many years ago. Front foot pushes to cover do not come more tentatively than that. To quote Shastri, he should have "slashed, and slashed hard at it."
...BD sends me a text telling me he thinks it is over. I write back, "Ye of little faith. This is not the Indian team of old. There is plenty of batting left. Have faith." Say what you will, I honestly believe it is not over. This isn't the Indian team I grew up watching. Not that long ago, India chased down 317 against the same Sri Lankan team after losing the openers with less than 30 runs on the board. See, another omen! I can keep this up all night, I promise.
...Sangakkara and Kohli get into an argument, probably discussing the merits/demerits of having tattoos in visible locations. People talk about Kohli as a future Indian captain. After the example set by Masada, I am not sure I want a hot-headed person as the leader of the team. By the time the match ends, he makes such a perfect statement, I am almost willing to believe he could be the future captain (but more on that in a bit). Memo to Sangakkara: sledging may work against Polly and co. but not against Kohli and co.
...In the past few weeks we have had some rare astronomical phenomena. The Supermoon was one. Another less-publicized one was that Saturn was the most visible planet in the night sky. And Saturn takes 29 years to go around the sun! 29 years years. So close to the 28 years since we last held the World Cup. Close enough to count as another omen, I say! But wait, there's more. What is the Sanskrit word for Saturn? Shani. When was the final played? Shaniwar! Yes!!!!!!
...Dilshan imitates Superman and ends Kohli's inning. On the telly, Nasser Hussain says that Gambhir should have not moved when the ball was hit. Two things, Nasser. One, Gambhir had to move as the ball was hit towards him and he was trying to get out of the way. Two, Dilshan really made a catch out of it. Let it go.
...Dhoni promotes himself ahead of Yuvraj. Bold move, say many. Sensible move, say I. The man has shown on numerous occasions that he is a finisher and revels in these situations. Even if he failed, it was the right move to make. He doesn't and on such slender threads do storylines lie.
...Ever since the Natwest final, where India chased down 326 after being 141 for 5, I have used a simple formula to figure out a run chase. Take the number of balls left and subtract it from the number of runs to get. The goal should be to whittle down that number so it stays positive or near zero (indicating that you have balls in hand with runs to get). As soon as you distill it like that you forget the need to score boundaries off every ball. For the entire inning, the Indian plus/minus number was in the positive, except for a brief period where it rose to about -5 with about 8 overs to go. Thoroughly manageable.
...Keeping the plus/minus in mind, I realize that if India does not get all out and simply scores in singles they will win. Consequently, Sangakkara's tactics perplex me. He cannot choke India out of the game. He needs to take wickets. Win or lose, do it in 45 overs. Bring in the fielders (remember the Indians are not really good at handling the Batting Powerplay?), choke up the easy singles, force them to create the runs. If they are able to do it, that's fine. But if they don't, you are in the game!
...On second thoughts, forget I said anything, Sangakkara. Continue to play into Masada's hands (or bat, if you will). Good job!
...Gauti, Gauti, Gauti. Centuries in ODI's don't grow on trees (except for SRT). Centuries in finals are even fewer. Even rarer is a century in a World Cup final. The rarest of them all is a century while chasing in a World Cup final. I'd yell at you (but knowing what little I do of you) you will do a better job of admonishing yourself than I ever will.
...My irritation, Gauti, is not that you missed out on a century (I'm no Sunny G when it comes to personal stats) but that you opened the door ever so slightly for the Sri Lankans. Arrgh! It must not get past Yuvraj otherwise it could get tricky. Sangakkara, that magnanimous man, continues with a spread field to Yuvraj. Immense relief spreads over me. We are going to win this if we keep our heads! If.
...The Indians play out Murali and Malinga for the first 5-6 overs of their spells before beginning to expand a little more. Nice. Masada uses a shot that;'s his own - the thappad shot to cover with the bottom taking over during the flick of the wrist. (Akin to a ice hockey slap-shot, if you will).
...Another thappad and Ravi Shastri says "tracer bullet" for the first time all day! Yesssssssss!!!! In the next over, Masada picks off a tiring Malinga for two fours and even Tom Moody gets into the, errr, mood by referencing a tracer bullet. All is well in this world and India are almost home.
...In 1983, India watched a completely different set of personalities win the Prudential Cup. Here are a few things about that game that not many people talk about. Kris Srikkanth played a brilliant inning, smashing the bowlers all over the park, attacking and hitting, scoring 38 runs in10 57 balls. Huh? In our memories, he smashed every ball to the fence, the reality was something different. Tinted lenses and all that jazz. Mohinder Amarnath played brilliantly scoring 28 runs in ..... 80 balls, and was hailed all over the world for it. The pace of the game in those days was such no one batted an eyelid while it happened.
But the biggest dirty little secret that no one mentions is this: NO ONE watching on the television in India that night actually saw Kapil Dev take the catch that saved the match. At around 8:30pm that night, Doordarshan went to its regularly scheduled Samachar. At that point in time, the West Indies were 40 for 1. When the telecast was resumed, the score was 66 for 5. In the 30 minutes that none of us in India were watching, Viv Richards had come, hit 7 fours in his 33 runs, gotten out, precipitated a collapse, and the upset was well underway. It's the truth, I swear!
...In 2011, thanks to WillowTV's commercial-free channel (thank you!), I don't miss a minute of the coverage. Therefore, nothing untoward happens during the chase and we now reach the final moments of the match. Omens, I tell you. Can't fight them.
...In 1983, when Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket and Indian won by a whopping 43 runs, I was so excited I can remember just jumping around and hugging everyone. At one point in time, as per Buck D's recollection, "Teddy's hand was in JQ's mouth, and JQ's hand was in Teddy's mouth." *sigh* Since I cannot lie about that day, I must admit it's the truth. The Teddy in question? My wonderful dog (half-Alsatian, half-Pomeranian). A great price to pay for being able to celebrate a seminal win. A win that changed the course of cricket history. And I say that without a smidgen of hyperbole.
...In 2011, with 4 runs to win, Kulasekara becomes the latest in a line of bowlers who have given up a six to end an ODI at Masada's hand. Except that this is no small ODI - this it the FINAL OF THE WORLD CUP! India wins!!!!! India wins!!!!!
The man has a sense of the moment, a sense of the occasion, and delivers a video-friendly moment that will probably end up being the most replayed video in the history of cricket (until next time). Watching the ball fly, you sense that he knew a split-second before anyone else that the World Cup was won. Cometh the hour, cometh the MAN.
...Helen of Troy is said to have had "a face the launched a 1000 ships". Masada has long surpassed SRT as India's commercial icon, but now his is the face that launches a 1000 cliché's. The tributes are flowing in unabated and deservedly so. One of the best ones about the man was this one by Gaurav Kalra (hat tip - L of Maidenbowling).
...Many things have been said and written about the Indian victory, but the best line of the day was uttered by Virat Kohli mere seconds after India had won the match and the players had given SRT a lap of honor around the ground. Speaking about SRT:
"He has carried the burden of the country for 21 years," Kohli said. "It was high time we carried him around on our shoulders."
Picture perfect. I couldn't have scripted that better. My misgivings about the man as a future India captain were eased just a wee bit. Maybe there is a calmer being lurking inside thatarrogant confident swagger.
...Masada has paid glowing tribute the ones who came before him and laid the groundwork for the final assault on the World Cup that he presided over. It took us 28 years to get there, but I wonder if it needed to be that long. The fact that VVS Laxman has never been part of a World Cup squad while fellows like Sunil Valson have, rankles in my mind. (Click here to read about VVS Laxman's thoughts on the Indian win).
...if you want to "re-live" the match, there are two fantastic sources you must visit.
The first if CricInfo's ball-by-ball commentary of the match. No one, I repeat, no one captures the ebbs and flows of a match better than the folks at CricInfo.
If you do not care for as detailed a journey, then look no further than Over-By-Over (more popularly known as OBO) for the final, on The Guardian's website. Apart from getting an over by over (duh!) review of the proceedings, you get plenty of pithy and irreverent remarks in the form of the comments that are appended to it. Brilliant stuff by Rob Smyth and one of my staple readings through the tournament.
...And finally, to paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson, for men may come and men may go, but these memories will live on for ever.
...Oh My God! I think I may have just cost India the World Cup. How could I be so stupid?! It is 3:10am and I am driving east on Maple Street approaching the 204th street intersection. The light is red and I tell myself, if it stays red India loses, if it turns green India wins. It turns green! Phew! But not satisfied with dodging that bullet, I decide that if the light stays green until it is no longer visible in my rearview mirror then victory is assured. Oh no...oh no...oh no... Phew! I can no longer see it but then I reach 168th street and turn left. Oh dear, I can see the traffic light to the left in the distance, still green but how long can it hold on? Idiot!! How could I be so stupid?!!
Miracle of miracles, it stays green the whole time! India is going to win! After that - Never. A. Doubt. Honestly, God promise.
...I reach D's house. D is Sri Lankan and by the time the captains are ready to toss there are 4 Sri Lankans and one Indian in the house. All 5 of us are praying that Kumar Sangakkara wins the toss. Yes, me too. I had a "vision" the night after we beat Pakistan that MS Dhoni (and Sachin Tendulkar, I must confess) will be around when the winning runs are scored. Which means Masada needs to lose the toss so Sri Lanka can bat first.
...Watching on WillowTV's solitary commercial-free channel is such a beautiful thing. No ads, no interruptions, no nothing. I get to watch the entire "toss episode" and wonder about the magnanimity of Kumar Sangakkara to readily agree to toss even after he claimed to have called it correctly the first time. Hmmmmmmm.
...Sri Lanka makes 4 (four) changes. The most perplexing for me is the omission of Ajantha Mendia. I know he has not been much of a force against India in the past 3 years, but still the dude was having a World Cup that Harbhajan Economy Singh would give up his first- and second-born children for. Mendis - 5 matches, 7 wickets, economy rate 3.14. Economy Singh - 9 matches, 9 wickets, economy 4.48. Panic in the Lankan camp!
...The Sri Lankan national anthem is rhythmic and beautiful to listen to, but it goes on and on. Like the ending of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Lotur rotak, to my blog regulars). Just when you think it is going to end, it starts up again. And then again. Clocking in at a mere 52 seconds, Jana Gana Mana seems almost like a remix version.
...Before the inning starts, I always tell myself the score that I will be happy to restrict the opposition to and no matter how the other team starts or ends, that is the score I reference when the inning is done to figure out my team's chances of winning. My par score for today: 267.
...ZAK begins with a dream-like 4-3-2-1 before settling for 5-3-6-1. At the other end, Sreesanth, who looks like he stuck a finger in a power socket just before he got onto the field, is leaking boundaries. Leaking is the right word, until the dam bursts and he (almost) undoes all of ZAK's hard work. This punt failed royally, Masada. In the semi-final, the first extra was conceded by India in the 37th over. Today, it takes 5 balls. Omens, omens. Surely not. Nah!
...The most heartening sight of the World Cup (until about 8 hours later) is seeing Yuvraj Singh flying around at point! Yuvi is BACK! I don't know where you were but you picked a good time to come back. The real reason for India's resurgence in the field during the knockout stages is not Yuvi, but the boy from UP - Suresh Raina. What a fielder! Right up there with the de Villiers of the world. Raina, Yuvi and Kohli put the squeeze on the Sri Lankans and carry the rest of the team with them. Is that really Sreesanth parrying the ball back? Can that really be ZAK throwing caution to the wind? Masada has conned the entire world with an underappreciated masterstorke. Earlier in the tournament, when asked about the abysmal fielding standards he did not try to defend them (like Dravid or Ganguly were wont to do) instead admitting openly that it sucked and that it was what it was and we should not fret about it as it was not going to improve.
"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist."
Keyser Söze
When you set the bar so low, it lulls not only your supporters but also the opposition. Suddenly, even routine stops (which, honestly, many of them were) seem like jabs to the gut. This is not the Indian fielding we were counting on. Oh dear!, think the Lankans. The greatest trick Dhoni pulled this World Cup was to convince people that Indian fielding did not exist.
...Economy Singh begins round the wicket. A long time ago, in a galaxy right here, Economy never went around the wicket, preferring to watch batsmen flick him away ball after ball. Then he developed that abomination - the doosra - and now almost exclusively comes round the wicket. From one extreme to another. Where's Chris Broad when you need him?
...Am I the only one who thinks that Economy is the epitome of a bully? If things are going his way, he is in your ears and jumping around. Slap his bowling around a little bit and he shrivels in the spotlight.
...Dilshan reaches 499 runs in the World Cup. D, my host, panics when I ask him, rather slyly, whether Dilshan can reach 500 runs in the World Cup. Not shy about using swear words, D focuses his attention on getting Dilshan to 500 and lets me know (very politely by his standards).
...But you see, that was just mis-direction on my part. While D is busy taunting me, Danger-man Dilshan is gone, dragging a ball from outside the leg-stump onto the wickets! By the way, Dilshan, flick, flick, flick, not sweep, sweep, sweep when facing Economy. Let that be a lesson to you.
...Mahela Jayawardene, the man with the silken touch, is simply gliding his way towards a date with Destiny and no one on the Indian team seems to be paying attention. Achtung! I see Jayawardene and wonder, why wasn't there a place for VVS Laxman in any World Cup squad? Dinesh Mongia?!! I lose my focus while I think about Dada's lucky charm from the 2003 World Cup (why else was he playing, I ask you?).
...Simon Taufel is umpiring the game. I see him and I picture a man in a poncho, cigar in his mouth, laconic as ever, leaving only dead bodies in his wake. "You see, my mule don't like people laughing." Is there a more assured umpire in the game? Aleem Dar is a close second and I am glad both are umpiring this game. Thank goodness the domination of the Aussies has ended, thereby enabling Taufel to officiate a World Cup final.
...Ravi Shastri starts his favorite parlor game - guess the final score. (This ranks right up there with: When will the team declare in this Test match?). Without fail, by the middle of the inning he begins guessing what the final score could be, then proceeds to second-guess himself with reckless abandon the rest of the evening, before finally proclaiming that the team was "20-30 runs short. Game on!" Today, he raises the specter of a 230 score and then proceeds to be amazed and astonished when the Sri Lankans reach 275. Dude, before the inning started I was looking to restrict them to 267. The fact that they took it to 274 made if 55-45 in favor of the Lankans in my book. Everyone now seems to say, "If Viru gets off to a quick start....." Gah!
...ZAK reaches 7-1-16-2. No signs yet of the carnage to follow. Only, it was not a carnage but more of a seductive assault by Jayawardene. ZAK finishes with 3-0-44-0. A tale of two halves. But no sweat. 267 (plus an extra 7) was always on the cards from the start of the inning, as far as I was concerned.
...Truth be told, I figure a Sehwag book-end to the World Cup is in store. Mahela began and ended the World Cup with a century. Surely, Sehwag will duplicate that. Malinga takes care of that omen in two balls. Don't review it, Viru, unless you hit the ball. Well, you didn't, and you are gone. In 2003 you were the lone gunman in the final against the Aussies and we lost. Today you get out early, we are going to win. You cannot battle omens like that.
Finding positive omens, at short notice, is my specialty.
...SRT is batting like a dream. He unfurls his patented check-straight-drive. This is good. Also, a lesson for Sehwag. When Viru first came on the scene, this was one of the shots he liked to play. Now, after the 175, he has forgotten to bat in straight lines and paid the price in both the semi-final and the final. I hope he rectifies this in time for the tour to West Indies (I could care less about the IPL).
...Eighteen runs short of 500, SRT perishes to the very shot he eschewed in that seminal 241* in Sydney so many years ago. Front foot pushes to cover do not come more tentatively than that. To quote Shastri, he should have "slashed, and slashed hard at it."
...BD sends me a text telling me he thinks it is over. I write back, "Ye of little faith. This is not the Indian team of old. There is plenty of batting left. Have faith." Say what you will, I honestly believe it is not over. This isn't the Indian team I grew up watching. Not that long ago, India chased down 317 against the same Sri Lankan team after losing the openers with less than 30 runs on the board. See, another omen! I can keep this up all night, I promise.
...Sangakkara and Kohli get into an argument, probably discussing the merits/demerits of having tattoos in visible locations. People talk about Kohli as a future Indian captain. After the example set by Masada, I am not sure I want a hot-headed person as the leader of the team. By the time the match ends, he makes such a perfect statement, I am almost willing to believe he could be the future captain (but more on that in a bit). Memo to Sangakkara: sledging may work against Polly and co. but not against Kohli and co.
...In the past few weeks we have had some rare astronomical phenomena. The Supermoon was one. Another less-publicized one was that Saturn was the most visible planet in the night sky. And Saturn takes 29 years to go around the sun! 29 years years. So close to the 28 years since we last held the World Cup. Close enough to count as another omen, I say! But wait, there's more. What is the Sanskrit word for Saturn? Shani. When was the final played? Shaniwar! Yes!!!!!!
...Dilshan imitates Superman and ends Kohli's inning. On the telly, Nasser Hussain says that Gambhir should have not moved when the ball was hit. Two things, Nasser. One, Gambhir had to move as the ball was hit towards him and he was trying to get out of the way. Two, Dilshan really made a catch out of it. Let it go.
...Dhoni promotes himself ahead of Yuvraj. Bold move, say many. Sensible move, say I. The man has shown on numerous occasions that he is a finisher and revels in these situations. Even if he failed, it was the right move to make. He doesn't and on such slender threads do storylines lie.
...Ever since the Natwest final, where India chased down 326 after being 141 for 5, I have used a simple formula to figure out a run chase. Take the number of balls left and subtract it from the number of runs to get. The goal should be to whittle down that number so it stays positive or near zero (indicating that you have balls in hand with runs to get). As soon as you distill it like that you forget the need to score boundaries off every ball. For the entire inning, the Indian plus/minus number was in the positive, except for a brief period where it rose to about -5 with about 8 overs to go. Thoroughly manageable.
...Keeping the plus/minus in mind, I realize that if India does not get all out and simply scores in singles they will win. Consequently, Sangakkara's tactics perplex me. He cannot choke India out of the game. He needs to take wickets. Win or lose, do it in 45 overs. Bring in the fielders (remember the Indians are not really good at handling the Batting Powerplay?), choke up the easy singles, force them to create the runs. If they are able to do it, that's fine. But if they don't, you are in the game!
...On second thoughts, forget I said anything, Sangakkara. Continue to play into Masada's hands (or bat, if you will). Good job!
...Gauti, Gauti, Gauti. Centuries in ODI's don't grow on trees (except for SRT). Centuries in finals are even fewer. Even rarer is a century in a World Cup final. The rarest of them all is a century while chasing in a World Cup final. I'd yell at you (but knowing what little I do of you) you will do a better job of admonishing yourself than I ever will.
...My irritation, Gauti, is not that you missed out on a century (I'm no Sunny G when it comes to personal stats) but that you opened the door ever so slightly for the Sri Lankans. Arrgh! It must not get past Yuvraj otherwise it could get tricky. Sangakkara, that magnanimous man, continues with a spread field to Yuvraj. Immense relief spreads over me. We are going to win this if we keep our heads! If.
...The Indians play out Murali and Malinga for the first 5-6 overs of their spells before beginning to expand a little more. Nice. Masada uses a shot that;'s his own - the thappad shot to cover with the bottom taking over during the flick of the wrist. (Akin to a ice hockey slap-shot, if you will).
...Another thappad and Ravi Shastri says "tracer bullet" for the first time all day! Yesssssssss!!!! In the next over, Masada picks off a tiring Malinga for two fours and even Tom Moody gets into the, errr, mood by referencing a tracer bullet. All is well in this world and India are almost home.
...In 1983, India watched a completely different set of personalities win the Prudential Cup. Here are a few things about that game that not many people talk about. Kris Srikkanth played a brilliant inning, smashing the bowlers all over the park, attacking and hitting, scoring 38 runs in
But the biggest dirty little secret that no one mentions is this: NO ONE watching on the television in India that night actually saw Kapil Dev take the catch that saved the match. At around 8:30pm that night, Doordarshan went to its regularly scheduled Samachar. At that point in time, the West Indies were 40 for 1. When the telecast was resumed, the score was 66 for 5. In the 30 minutes that none of us in India were watching, Viv Richards had come, hit 7 fours in his 33 runs, gotten out, precipitated a collapse, and the upset was well underway. It's the truth, I swear!
...In 2011, thanks to WillowTV's commercial-free channel (thank you!), I don't miss a minute of the coverage. Therefore, nothing untoward happens during the chase and we now reach the final moments of the match. Omens, I tell you. Can't fight them.
...In 1983, when Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket and Indian won by a whopping 43 runs, I was so excited I can remember just jumping around and hugging everyone. At one point in time, as per Buck D's recollection, "Teddy's hand was in JQ's mouth, and JQ's hand was in Teddy's mouth." *sigh* Since I cannot lie about that day, I must admit it's the truth. The Teddy in question? My wonderful dog (half-Alsatian, half-Pomeranian). A great price to pay for being able to celebrate a seminal win. A win that changed the course of cricket history. And I say that without a smidgen of hyperbole.
...In 2011, with 4 runs to win, Kulasekara becomes the latest in a line of bowlers who have given up a six to end an ODI at Masada's hand. Except that this is no small ODI - this it the FINAL OF THE WORLD CUP! India wins!!!!! India wins!!!!!
The man has a sense of the moment, a sense of the occasion, and delivers a video-friendly moment that will probably end up being the most replayed video in the history of cricket (until next time). Watching the ball fly, you sense that he knew a split-second before anyone else that the World Cup was won. Cometh the hour, cometh the MAN.
...Helen of Troy is said to have had "a face the launched a 1000 ships". Masada has long surpassed SRT as India's commercial icon, but now his is the face that launches a 1000 cliché's. The tributes are flowing in unabated and deservedly so. One of the best ones about the man was this one by Gaurav Kalra (hat tip - L of Maidenbowling).
For a man who isn't 30 yet, Dhoni's equilibrium is unusual. But I suspect it is so because he doesn't allow situations to burden him. Self-confidence is often misunderstood. In Dhoni's case it appears confidence flows not from an arrogant belief that he is right. But in trusting his instinct for what that moment demands. So quietly he slips in among the troopers when Tendulkar is paraded around the ground, not even offering him his strong shoulders so the limelight isn't shared. He punts on selections that confound the 'experts' and concedes them as mistakes even when they work out just fine!...I fell in love with his captaincy around 2008 after I read this interview of his in CricInfo by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and Nagraj Gollapudi. Read it in its entirety and all through remember that this is a fellow who did not attend college until recently and did not captain a team at any level until he was handed the reins of the Indian T20 squad. No one epitomizes the act of meeting Triumph and Disaster and treating both Imposters the same as the man I like to call Masada.
(...)
MS Dhoni might well be a man of steely resolve and abundant talent. He might well be more determined and dogged than most cricketers on the circuit. But watching from a distance I am convinced Dhoni has no equal in the game in the art of mastering a moment. And more importantly, in letting that very moment pass. It seems like a well designed method for a happy life. Sometimes the quest for a place in history can snatch your present away. Mahender Singh Dhoni is teaching us how to not allow that to happen. I suspect though that he doesn't really care if we learn or not!
...Many things have been said and written about the Indian victory, but the best line of the day was uttered by Virat Kohli mere seconds after India had won the match and the players had given SRT a lap of honor around the ground. Speaking about SRT:
"He has carried the burden of the country for 21 years," Kohli said. "It was high time we carried him around on our shoulders."
Picture perfect. I couldn't have scripted that better. My misgivings about the man as a future India captain were eased just a wee bit. Maybe there is a calmer being lurking inside that
...Masada has paid glowing tribute the ones who came before him and laid the groundwork for the final assault on the World Cup that he presided over. It took us 28 years to get there, but I wonder if it needed to be that long. The fact that VVS Laxman has never been part of a World Cup squad while fellows like Sunil Valson have, rankles in my mind. (Click here to read about VVS Laxman's thoughts on the Indian win).
...if you want to "re-live" the match, there are two fantastic sources you must visit.
The first if CricInfo's ball-by-ball commentary of the match. No one, I repeat, no one captures the ebbs and flows of a match better than the folks at CricInfo.
If you do not care for as detailed a journey, then look no further than Over-By-Over (more popularly known as OBO) for the final, on The Guardian's website. Apart from getting an over by over (duh!) review of the proceedings, you get plenty of pithy and irreverent remarks in the form of the comments that are appended to it. Brilliant stuff by Rob Smyth and one of my staple readings through the tournament.
...And finally, to paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson, for men may come and men may go, but these memories will live on for ever.
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| (Getty Images 2011, via CricInfo) |
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| (Getty Images 2011, via CricInfo) |
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| (Getty Images 2011, via CricInfo) |
7 comments:
Three things;
OMG! Even I thought SL's national anthem is a tad too long.
:p
I was listening to TMS on BBC and Alison Mitchell interview MSD where he talked about the generational changes in Indian cricket since 83 and talked about Yuvraj and Kaif (Kaif!) in the same breath.
And this was right after the match... and he actually remembered to credit Kaif, even on the biggest day of his cricketing life; just boggles my mind.
Kohli is really good. I saw him lead the India U-19 team to a World Cup title and he was really a good leader. I hope the powers that be recognize it and groom him to be the next captain.
I was waiting for this post from you and thought you will mention something about the last twirl....
Yeah you didn't... Was that similar to Eldrick Tont's twirl....
thanks, great commentary and wonderful links as always. This is only the 3rd ever ODI WC match I have watched in its entirety (but for that DD-compelled newsbreak in 1983!) and it was a doozy.
I think that Gambhir or Yuvraj will get tabbed to be the Vice-Captain now with Kohli as the skipper-in-grooming. The jury is still out on who is the successor to Dravid - is it Kohli on the strength of his performances in the shorter form or is it Pujara?
Likewise, does Yuvraj return to the test XI or does Raina hold on to the spot vacated by Ganguly?
Finally, how severe are Zaheer Khan and Sehwag's injuries? How much longer do the two have at the highest levels? India's fast-bowling reserves are thin, and we have a knack of churning through them alarmingly quickly.
More later.
Thanks JQ..that was quite a ride!
I am impressed with Virat too. Very much. In fact because of my love for him, some people call him my "son"..but seeing as what happened to my other adopted son, Irfan Pathan, I'm not going down that road...
Can I just say (yet again) how proud I am of having Dhoni represent India? He is one of the most complete sportsmen (and women) I know of..if Raymond still does comemrcials in India, they should go for Dhoni...
Lastly, about that bat twirl...well, Rajni Saar twirls his goggles, Dhoni Saar twirls his bat...it's the Chennai effect I imagine...
L, uncommon presence, uncommon man. A real leader. I was talking to BD and wondering...where did the fellow learn all this? Sure, he has brushed up his English, but how is he so articulate under the spotlight. Impressive.
AV/BRB, yes, it was very Tont-like. But considering where Tont is these days, I did not want to put a stain on the proceedings. Masada is his own man and a better man, as far as I know.
BD, my prediction is that Viru will retire before SRT does. Kohli has the "it" factor and will probably be leading the Indian team at the next World Cup (even though Masada will only be 33).
M, thanks! I was worried for a while that it would not meet the expectations I had raised. :-)
Another fearless prediction: the next WC will feature Irfan in a prominent role. You heard it here first.
Rajani is the original twirler, yes. Masada can only hope to emulate him. Mind it!
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