ASHES

However small that number be, but there are people who like to read my posts. The thing that they like the most about my post is the very personal connection I present. But today’s post is not well thought out. This is a direct dedication to the Indian team for it memorable performance at the T20 championship. I feel proud whenever I tell someone that we are the world champions.

Where has this team been? Where has this zest for performing well been? I beg to disagree that this is a change that came overnight. MS Dhoni might have very few fans who adore him as much as I do, but I don’t think that his captaincy has changed the entire perspective of Indian players. There is something else to this mystery, leads of which can be found from Rahul Dravid’s early resignation. But this team looked like they were playing cricket. They wanted to score runs, take wickets, field well and win the game. It sounds so simple, but if followed it actually is that simple. Somehow we have managed to overlook the simple things and tried the more difficult ones in the past.

Yuvraj Singh’s amazing batting was a testimony to what loads of people have been saying so far. I remember Greg Chappel said in his last days as the coach, that Yuvraj himself doesn’t realise that potentially he is the best in the world. He proved that he has the talent. People keep talking about Kevin Pieterson,. But I think he has been just hyped, he is a normal batsman who can hit the ball a long way.

It was a tournament where everyone contributed. Save for Piyush Chawla, everyone got a game and everyone left a mark. Gambhir, RP, Irfan, Dhoni, Bhajji, Sehwag and even Sreesanth, if we are talking about leaving a mark. Jogi bowled two pressure overs and took important catches, Utthapa got a fifty and fielded briliiantly, Karthik took that stunner to get rid of Smith, Yusuf pathan, scored 15 good runs, bowled one good over and took a catch, Agarkar err….

But forget about the individual performances, if you look at the pictures of the team’s celebrations it just makes you so proud that you love this game. Everyone is jumping on each other, there are no bars to consider. Everyone can fearlessly say and express themselves, no protocol has to be obeyed. I think not having a coach helped, and with Dhoni I don’t think we need a head coach. He has a sense of direction and India will do well if we have only one director.

The sad thing though is that this win has come a little late in the day. I think the game is making its way down. The game is dying. Had such a victory come 10 years ago, I would have spent the night burning crackers, and dancing on the street. This time it was just high fives with friends and then coming to the balcony expecting some fireworks. But there were almost no firecrackers. Ofcourse there would have been celebrations across India at other places. But it has really cracked down a bit. The celebrations there would have been this time would not compare with the celebrations when India beat Pakistan at Bangalore in 1996.

I think the clock has started ticking backwards. The game is getting shorter. I am all in favour of having 20-20. But the reason why I support it is that I myself don’t have that much time. If people like me will come to accept shorter versions of the game, then that’s pretty much the end of it. But till it’s on, the battle is on. The fun is endearing and the lessons to learn remain the same. And to top it all we are the first world champions. History books will always say that