India won the WORLD CUP - 28 Years's Struggle Ends here !!!

            383RD BLOG -->>

        I just can't understand how to start writing. What should I mention first. What words should I use to make this Blog special. Let's start it with simple words - India won the World Cup 2011 after a long struggle of 28 years. It was a perfect game. The excitement started right from the TOSS when there was a misunderstanding where referee didn't heard the call from the Captain because of the noise of the people cheering for their teams. Then, Sri Lanka batted first and the opening pair of Sri Lanka which is the most successful opening pair of this World Cup going back to the pavilion in first 10 overs. Then, bowling out Sangakkara at 48. When the Indians started believing that the World Cup is already in their hand, Sri Lankans played a magnificent inning in the last Powerplay - 46 overs to 50 overs where they scored 73 runs and set a Target of 275 runs for India. 

             Indians lost the confidence of winning the World Cup and everyone believed that 2003 World Cup Final is going to be repeated but everyone had faith on our opening pair - Sehwag and Sachin. India's batting started and Sehwag got LBW out on the 2nd ball itself which moved all the Indians. It was the most depressing moment of the match. Gambhir came on the crease and started with a Boundary giving rays of hope. Sachin thrashed 2 to 3 boundaries and as soon as people were ready to watch one of the most classic inning of Sachin Tendulkar, he was caught by the Lankan fielder on Slip. As soon as the Opening pair of India crashed like the Lankan's opener, all the noise in the stadium turned into bloody silence. People were literally disappointed to see the most faithful batsmen crushing down like anything. Indian players are emotional otherwise they could have realized the same happened with the Sri Lankan side too. 

              Then came Kohli who supported Gambhir's wonderful inning for a short time. After Kohli was caught by the Bowler at 38, Dhoni came with his bat. Audience in the stadium welcomed Dhoni with a huge round of applause and claps. Dhoni's bat didn't worked in this World Cup but destiny planned something else for him in this match. He started taking Singles and Doubles with Gambhir. Gambhir finally got out at 97 just 3 runs before hitting a magnificent century in the Finals. Then came Yuvraj and he supported Dhoni's incredible inning. At last, India needed 5 runs of 11 balls and Dhoni hit the ball so firmly that it flied all the way in the hands of the audience. With this Sixer, India won the World Cup Final and became the New World Cup Champions after 28 years since last time they won the World Cup in 1983.

             The World Cup started with a Boundary hit by Sehwag's bat in the first match against Bangladesh and ended with a Six hit by Dhoni against Sri Lanka in Finals. Sachin Tendulkar ended up being the 2nd Highest run scorer in World Cup 2011 and the Highest Run Scorer by an Indian. Zaheer Khan equaled the Afridi's record of highest Wicket-taker in this World Cup. Yuvraj Singh is announced as the Man of the Tournament for his magnificent bowling where he took 15 Wickets and his matured batting where he scored 1 Century and 4 half-Centuries. He is also named Man of the Match for Four times in this tournament which is a record for winning for the most no of times in the World Cup which is shared with 2 more cricketers. 

             All the team members of Indian team Squad wanted to win this World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar - the man who is playing World Cup from last 6 tournaments and 21 years. The man who have tried almost every attempt to make India the champion of the World. He is the man who have scored the most runs and the highest run in the ODI format of Cricket. He is the man who have played the most numbers of World Cup i.e. 6 times which is also shared by Jawed Miandad of Pakistan. He is the man who have scored century for 6 times in World Cups which is also the highest. He has also scored most numbers of half-century in World Cup matches. His total runs in the World Cup is the highest by any Cricketer. Two times in World Cups, he has managed to be the Highest run-getter of the tournament while this time he ended to be the Second-highest. There are many more records which I am forgetting and they are not coming in my small brain because of emotions and number of thoughts rotating in my mind. Sachin was seen drinking champagne on the ground. He was blowing the champagne when the Indian team got the World Cup in their hands. He was shouting, screaming, yelling and he was doing everything what he would have done if he would have won the First World Cup match when he was 19. The team members lifted Sachin on their shoulders and marched all over the ground. People in the stadium went mad to see the most memorable day of Indian cricket team. 

               Kohli quoted - ''He's carried the nation for 21 years and it is about time we carried him.'' Wow. This was The Sachin Tendulkar's sixth and the last World Cup which he and his team managed to win and bring it on India's land. It would have been a very bad memory for Indians to never win a World Cup in spite of having the World's biggest cricketer in their team. Finally, the era of Sachin Tendulkar gave a World Cup to India. 

              Dhoni played a Captain's inning today. He is the Man of the Match of the World Cup Final match. What can be bigger than this for the Captain? In 1999, Azharuddin didn't even allowed us to dream about World Cup. In 2003, Sourav Ganguly made us to smell World Cup and come back after losing in the Finals against Australia. People actually believed that if not in Ganguly's leadership then World Cup is impossible in near future. Then, in 2007, Rahul Dravid shattered all the hopes of winning the World Cup by ousting the team in the Group stage itself. And now, finally, in 2011, Mahendra Singh Dhoni broke the record of all the Indian Captains and brought the World Cup in India. The winning rate of Dhoni as a Captain is higher than every recent Captains of India. Dhoni will always be remembered in the History of Indian Cricket Team. 

               It was wonderful to have so many celebrities in the Wankhede stadium for viewing the match and encouraging the team. But the people whom I really liked in the stadium were Sourav Ganguly in the Commentator's Box and Ajay Jadeja in the audience. Ganguly is the man who managed to bring India into Finals after 20 years. Losing against Australia was almost sure so it wasn't a big fault when we lost that World Cup. Ajay Jadeja played a magnificent inning in 1996 World Cup against Pakistan where he scored 45 runs of 25 Balls. Having these 2 players as a support was wonderful. 

              The World Cup fever ends here. India is the New Champion of Cricket. Dhoni is the most successful Captain of India after Kapil Dev in terms of World Cup. Sachin ends his World Cup career with World Cup in his hand. Yuvraj returns in form with a bang. Gambhir becomes a new icon of cricket after his stroke at the time of pressure. Kohli and Raina becomes the example of the best fielders. Sehwag becomes the King of Fours as he hit the four on every first ball he played in the first 5 matches of this World Cup. Zaheer Khan shows the spirit of consistency. Munaf Patel shows the sign of simplicity. Harbhajan always remains the most Dramatic player of India. Yusuf Pathan will still be known as the King of Sixer for India. 

              Lets celebrate the most special day of Indian Cricket. 2/4/11 - This date becomes a new history. I am so glad to be the part of this generation when India won their 2nd World Cup. When India won 1st World Cup, my father was 21. Now, when India won its 2nd World Cup, I am 21. I hope India bring the World Cup again and doesn't wait for my child to age 21. ;-)

             With a big smile and tears of happiness in my eyes, signing off.

 Hats off to Dhoni, Sachin, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Zaheer and company.

          Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU