Till a month ago the most annoying topic ever. Today things have flipped. I have no rights to even comment on anything after how i have celebrated this world cup victory. April 2nd will hence be known in my calender as the day I screamed the MOST.
I must accept I am not a cricoholic like Maddy,Raj or Hari... I never enjoyed playing cricket quizzes, talking about the ashes or betting on something being an lbw!
But,
After the double toss confusion and Sri lanka winning it,choosing to bat.. i did feel bad considering how badly i wanted India to bat first today. I have always liked the chase,the tension, the nails, the jinxing, yelling and the fights. I liked it all the more today. Hopping for a double nelson, moist eyes when Gambir got out at 97, the screaming and throwing of pepsi bottles on the tv when sehwag got out even before he could smell the ball, sachin not contributing, RAJNIKANTH's "kanna" look and Dhoni's last ball lagaan six performance!!
If i had to explain, paisa vasool to someone i'd probably talk to them bout this match.After a good 45 overs when the powerplay kicked in and Sri Lanka actually scored so much so suddenly i could feel a bad cloud creep over us. And when sehwag and sachin added to this I couldn't help but expect the worst. But as they say, nothing is ever over till the Fat lady sings! how true.
Then began a commendable performance by Gambir,followed by Dhoni.... and a lot of screaming!! yuvraj totally deserved the man of the series award,next being Dilshan according to me.. When Maddy got back for the 2nd amazing half I knew he was gonna statistically analyze the match, which was never good for India or my confidence level. Out of 9 games played between the two teams the team batting 1st had won the match on 7 occasions.
not a good fact.and in a world cup this had happened 4 times,not good again.
And then this went on and on,discussions, fights,arguments,Bets, praying,hoppin on one leg,not jinxing it,"don't move out of your chair",don't pee til its all
over,whistle,jump when they show rajnikanth, react in chorus,pray a little more..
Changes like Dhoni coming in after Gambir got out was welcomed with a puzzled but yeah ok just pray look! And then it was 50 runs to go..A bad(good for us) over by kulasekara, then slowly 15 from 17 balls... when Malinga's over wasn't gettin over at all. the prayers increased and so did the tension!! but our man dhoni's consecutive boundaries got us celebrating and before we knew it, up went the ball ... felt like watching lagaan all over again :D and, India had won the match. none of us even waited to watch the ball reach the boundary, we knew it. we knew it. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS. it took 28 years for history to repeat itself and I was thankful to be old enough to enjoy and cherish it.
Maddy and my dad reacted so much for the 1st time,they ran to the road screaming and hugging the other crazy kids at home. My mom was still shocked and wanted to know if the last ball was really a six!so was Bhavna. Raj had nothing to say,he was speechless while hari got as vocal as he possibly could and ran to the road to make sure everyone got the point, kiran and I jumped yelling deiiiiii super da indiaa indiaaa India!! crackers,yelling and cheers continued for 25 mins till we decided to hit the road, MG road after this(whoever thought of this was a genius).
Hari ,Kiran and I put our heads out of the car screaaaaaaaaaming INDIA and waving at the people. we saw close to 100 people on the main road. wasn't a big deal. then we reached a junction where we saw people dancing and celebrating. atleast 500 people. screaming.Epitome of awesomeness.Unity.
We lost our flag to a crazy aficionado, Yelled vande mataram, saw the biggest flag EVER,hi5'd a cop by mistake,shook hands with random people,screwed up our throats, almost ran out of fuel, did crazy dance steps, rejoiced being a winner, and smiled at the fact that the pride was seen in each one s eyes.
So many memories,so much to never forget. Ponting's captaincy, Afridi's face, Lee's omnipresence,Yuvraj's consistent performance ,Dhoni's planning and execution,Sachin's 100th 100 not being achieved,Simon Taufel finally standing in a world cup final,England getting out of the series so early :) but most of all our WIN. Our debatably well deserved win.
Truly the most memorable moment in Indian cricketing history and definitely one of my favorites.A story I can't wait to tell my kids. :)
