Occasions don't make men stronger, but without an occasion there could be no exhibition of strength. The greatest measure of the fight in a fighter is how he rises up to an occasion, and India have showcased their share of fight in a phenomenal manner today in Ahmedabad.
Knocking Australia out of a world cup had remained an unattained dream for most teams in a generation. It was way back, 19 years ago, in 1992 when it was the last time Australia did not qualify for the semi-finals of a world cup. Since then they have played all the finals of the four world cups till the current one and, as we all know, have won 3 in a row. It was an era of utter dominance, marked by a gradually and carefully acquired habit of winning. Home or away, Australia kept winning. An Australian loss was as rare as a good ball from Munaf Patel. In fact, as the analogy might further suggest, it was virtually non-existent.
However, as they say, nothing is permanent in this world filled with fragility and change. Everything, how much ever significant and great, has an end, and today the team that had fought the best against Australia in their golden era and the team that had managed to ask them questions fairly regularly - although mostly in Test Cricket - marked the end of that era. Yes, I take immense pride in saying that it is India who have beaten the Australians in the quarter-final of the world cup 2011 and have set them right on their way home.
The dilettantes might believe that today's was not an exciting game of cricket as not many spectacular shots were played and not a lot of action was staged on the ground. However, the literates of the game would know that it was a thriller - more at the inside than from the outside - by all means. It was a match that pressure resided in like a permanent citizen and, soon as the match began, spread all over in the territories of both the sides like a fluid of low viscosity. Australia did well to reach 260 as Ricky Ponting played a fantastic knock for his fifth, and most probably last, world cup hundred. India, on the other hand, who have been one of the worst bowling sides for a large part of the tournament believed that they had done well to restrict Australia below 275. Zaheer Khan bowled brilliantly and rose up to the occasion. Harbhajan and Ashwin spun the ball well and kept things tight in the initial stages. Yuvraj, the statistically best bowler, bowled his 10 for 44 and picked up 2 wickets.
India came on to bat with a purpose and got off to a good start before Sehwag fell mistiming a pull as he was caught at midwicket. Sachin Tendulkar looked superb as usual and played some remarkable strokes all over the ground for his 53 and formed a good stand with Gambhir. Sachin was caught behind on Tait's bowling which was the only highlight of Shaun Tait's presence in the match. Otherwise, Tait was haywire, never settled down, and frankly, never bowled well. The occasion was a huge one and the match that was getting away from the Australians was once again well-balanced as Kohli got out off a full-toss ball and Gambhir killed himself running with Yuvraj Singh in the most bizarre possible manner. And when Dhoni got out shortly after, the Indian ship looked to be sinking and the famous Australian attitude of never-say-die suddenly looked alive and shining.
Then came the 7th man - Suresh Raina - the last person guarding the weak Indian tail from the lethal pace of Brett Lee, Mittchel Johnson and Shaun Tait. Yuvraj Singh, with great support from Suresh Raina, scored a match-winning 57 not out in 65 balls which, to me, was as good as a hundred. The two formed an unbeaten partnership of 74 which was as good a match-winning effort as you will ever see. Raina remained unbeaten on 34 off 28 and actively participated in writing a glorious piece of the history of Indian cricket.
Fascinating pieces of cricketing history have been written by the Indians and importantly they have a lot more to come their way. With this scintillating win, India have confirmed an appointment with their arch-rivals Pakistan in Mohali on Wednesday, 30th of March, 2011. That is as big a game as one could possibly see in world cricket. For tonight, India can rejoice and cherish a victory that would have tasted like a divine delicacy cooked in their own backyard.
Man of the Match: Yuvraj Singh Knocking Australia out of a world cup had remained an unattained dream for most teams in a generation. It was way back, 19 years ago, in 1992 when it was the last time Australia did not qualify for the semi-finals of a world cup. Since then they have played all the finals of the four world cups till the current one and, as we all know, have won 3 in a row. It was an era of utter dominance, marked by a gradually and carefully acquired habit of winning. Home or away, Australia kept winning. An Australian loss was as rare as a good ball from Munaf Patel. In fact, as the analogy might further suggest, it was virtually non-existent.
However, as they say, nothing is permanent in this world filled with fragility and change. Everything, how much ever significant and great, has an end, and today the team that had fought the best against Australia in their golden era and the team that had managed to ask them questions fairly regularly - although mostly in Test Cricket - marked the end of that era. Yes, I take immense pride in saying that it is India who have beaten the Australians in the quarter-final of the world cup 2011 and have set them right on their way home.
The dilettantes might believe that today's was not an exciting game of cricket as not many spectacular shots were played and not a lot of action was staged on the ground. However, the literates of the game would know that it was a thriller - more at the inside than from the outside - by all means. It was a match that pressure resided in like a permanent citizen and, soon as the match began, spread all over in the territories of both the sides like a fluid of low viscosity. Australia did well to reach 260 as Ricky Ponting played a fantastic knock for his fifth, and most probably last, world cup hundred. India, on the other hand, who have been one of the worst bowling sides for a large part of the tournament believed that they had done well to restrict Australia below 275. Zaheer Khan bowled brilliantly and rose up to the occasion. Harbhajan and Ashwin spun the ball well and kept things tight in the initial stages. Yuvraj, the statistically best bowler, bowled his 10 for 44 and picked up 2 wickets.
India came on to bat with a purpose and got off to a good start before Sehwag fell mistiming a pull as he was caught at midwicket. Sachin Tendulkar looked superb as usual and played some remarkable strokes all over the ground for his 53 and formed a good stand with Gambhir. Sachin was caught behind on Tait's bowling which was the only highlight of Shaun Tait's presence in the match. Otherwise, Tait was haywire, never settled down, and frankly, never bowled well. The occasion was a huge one and the match that was getting away from the Australians was once again well-balanced as Kohli got out off a full-toss ball and Gambhir killed himself running with Yuvraj Singh in the most bizarre possible manner. And when Dhoni got out shortly after, the Indian ship looked to be sinking and the famous Australian attitude of never-say-die suddenly looked alive and shining.
Then came the 7th man - Suresh Raina - the last person guarding the weak Indian tail from the lethal pace of Brett Lee, Mittchel Johnson and Shaun Tait. Yuvraj Singh, with great support from Suresh Raina, scored a match-winning 57 not out in 65 balls which, to me, was as good as a hundred. The two formed an unbeaten partnership of 74 which was as good a match-winning effort as you will ever see. Raina remained unbeaten on 34 off 28 and actively participated in writing a glorious piece of the history of Indian cricket.
Fascinating pieces of cricketing history have been written by the Indians and importantly they have a lot more to come their way. With this scintillating win, India have confirmed an appointment with their arch-rivals Pakistan in Mohali on Wednesday, 30th of March, 2011. That is as big a game as one could possibly see in world cricket. For tonight, India can rejoice and cherish a victory that would have tasted like a divine delicacy cooked in their own backyard.
That is very well written Mihir. But I just wish to point out the amount of vitriol that has been heaped up by the Indian fans on the Australian team and especially Ricky Ponting, has been a tad overdone in my opinion. Yes we beat Australia in the WC but we should not forget that they have set the benchmark in terms of excellence in ODI and Test cricket which the present Indian team should aspire to. I do feel some sympathy for Ponting at this stage who, when he was under fire from all quarters of the media and former players, came out and played a real leaders knock. Inspite of his bad form over the last year and a half, he remains the best counter-attacking batsman in the world. Only if the Indian batsmen could emulate his mental strength and desire to win then we might become the best cricket team in the world.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked the article.
ReplyDeleteI have always liked Ricky Ponting - the batsman. He has a flair in his stroke-play and a striking aggression in his batting.
The reason why this was a match of great importance is that, as you said, Australia enjoyed a glorious era of cricket and it has finally come to an end. Nobody takes anything away from what they used to be. However, there is a sadistic pleasure in watching what they now are and there is a nationalistic pleasure in knowing that it was India who knocked them out of the world cup.