The war ended, but somehow a write-up by a Pakistani journalist – Maheen Sadiq – really moved me to sober down my vengeful, nationalistic spirit and look forward to a well-deserving World Cup final.
Agreed, for the two neighbouring nations, the semi-final was our THE finale! Crackers heralded Diwali with great pomp across India. Each wicket gone was creating fervor and there was no end to the celebrations after we defeated the rivals! Hoards of bikes and cars launched on the roads, and there was a complete bottleneck on the major thoroughfares. Slogans filled the hearts of every Indian and the national flag flew high.
A share of thought for the other party, and revisiting the article by Maheen, Pakistan took the defeat quite bravely. There weren’t any curses for the players, or burning of effigies. True, there are fanatics – one of whom filed a case against the cricketers for match fixing. But in the end, the welcome back of the team to their nation has been very warm, triggered by Afridi’s apology to the nation for losing. According to the country, it’s their president and prime minister who should be apologizing.
Enough of the past match, and sorry if I got carried away! A bigger match is round the corner – for Indians, the play-ground is their shrine, cricket is the cult and Sachin is their God! (No bias / personal opinion here, I do believe he sometimes plays for his own records)… It’s been a long hiatus since our last and only victory in 1983. India has produced some very sincere, industrious and marvelous captains since then – Kapil Dev, Azharuddin, and Sourav Ganguly being the most promising ones. And now Dhoni is doing his bit. He has practically won all the major cups and broken the 15 years of jinx against Australia. The World Cup this year will be his zenith and we definitely see it coming.
As much as we loath the frivolous and inconsistent nature of the Indian team, they definitely did well this time around. A small misfield here and a fallen catch there, rest the series so far has been pretty smooth for them. The batsmen are in their form, the bowlers look good and, best of all, the fielding has been quite noteworthy. Running between the wickets by the rival teams have been kept under check by players like Raina, Yuvraj and Kohli.
Sri Lanka, on the same lines, has been a consistent team throughout. They are a very strong bowling side and India will have to depend on its batting and fielding strengths to defend the Lankan team. Castrol Index’s predictions show that Sri Lanka has an edge over India:
With or without predictions – the finals is going to be more of a match of wits than a match of strength. It is the 3rd time Team India has reached the finals – they have a humongous load of expectations to fulfill. It adds up to the extreme exhaustion from all the matches since Feb 2011, and the pressure to recover from the daze of the win against Pakistan. Quite a lot for one’s cup, huh?!
The team will have to collect all their mental and emotional prowess, and play a patient and strategic game. The country prayed and celebrated the previous wins, the final one will be showered with blessings as well. Come on India – we are awaiting the Golden Cup!
