Back in 1983 I was in School at NSS, Tripunithura, when India won the world cup. We had to wait till the Sunday Newspaper arrived to know the result. The game was not that popular and TV was still a luxury. Then too, the final was on a Saturday. I still remember the sweet feeling of victory over the mighty West Indies. "Kapil's Devils" was truly awesome in bundling up the kings of the world cricket, especially when they were trying to retain the world cup for a third time. Roger Binny with his banana swings became the highest wicket taker and Krishnamachari Srikanth with his fearless innings in the final became our heroes, ofcourse Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath was our pride when they came action framed in the pages of "Sportstar".
No matter how fiercely loyal we were to our team, we knew in our heart, we won 'cos we were lucky. But in 2011 after 28 years we won the World cup again, this time on the merit of our game. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain became the new hero, the man. Ofcourse, we cannot forget Sachin Tendulkar, the True Indian, who has given everything for Indian cricket, a joy for millions of us who have nothing else to feel happy about, except his batting. He help us in forgetting the worries of our life, with his strokes, his game.
Every body is talking about the BCCI, the selectors, for their vision, how they put the resource to build team India, the facilities and the way they built up national cricket feeling; Gary Kirsten, the exemplary coach and the support staff who made team India strong enough for the grind of a World Cup. But we should not forget Greg Chappel, the Australian who turned the wind for us by adding "dare" to our fresh young blood.
Like the commentators opined the Australian era of cricket dominance is over. What a dominance it was. No cricket lover can ever forget how well they played their game for over two decades, especially in the last decade after the West Indies ran dry on their talents. Three time world champions in a row, Australia the team that showed how to play cricket any where and win, I am lucky to live in that era and watched the way the likes of Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Glen Mcgrath, Shane Warn mastered the game.
Now, we all have this beautiful feeling, India has arrived, our time has come. I kinda believe, we will defend our World Champion title successfully, next year.
No matter how fiercely loyal we were to our team, we knew in our heart, we won 'cos we were lucky. But in 2011 after 28 years we won the World cup again, this time on the merit of our game. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain became the new hero, the man. Ofcourse, we cannot forget Sachin Tendulkar, the True Indian, who has given everything for Indian cricket, a joy for millions of us who have nothing else to feel happy about, except his batting. He help us in forgetting the worries of our life, with his strokes, his game.
Every body is talking about the BCCI, the selectors, for their vision, how they put the resource to build team India, the facilities and the way they built up national cricket feeling; Gary Kirsten, the exemplary coach and the support staff who made team India strong enough for the grind of a World Cup. But we should not forget Greg Chappel, the Australian who turned the wind for us by adding "dare" to our fresh young blood.
Like the commentators opined the Australian era of cricket dominance is over. What a dominance it was. No cricket lover can ever forget how well they played their game for over two decades, especially in the last decade after the West Indies ran dry on their talents. Three time world champions in a row, Australia the team that showed how to play cricket any where and win, I am lucky to live in that era and watched the way the likes of Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Glen Mcgrath, Shane Warn mastered the game.
Now, we all have this beautiful feeling, India has arrived, our time has come. I kinda believe, we will defend our World Champion title successfully, next year.
