Tuesday, April 5, 2011

History revisited: India wins ICC World Cup 2011







INDIAN LIONS did it in style and the Lankan tigers had to accept defeat at the hands of none other than the cool Indian captain M S Dhoni, who made sure the team India gets on to lift the World Cup 2011 in Mumbai amidst loud cheers and applause from the strong crowd present in the Wankhede stadium to witness the history being written. No doubt MS Dhoni scripted the history when he hit the winning six in the 49th over and India became the new World Champion after 28 years.
This also moved India up in the ICC ODI rankings and India captured the number one spot and now, the team India is number one in both the formats of the game i.e. test and one day. The victory was long overdue as we missed it in 2003 when Australia defeated us. But Saturday was our day and we made it. This victory is very special to every Indian because of many reasons. First, we lifted the cup by beating Pakistan. Second, we won our match from team Australia also. This gives immense satisfaction that we are now the real champions.
It was a tough road for MS Dhoni and his men as there was tremendous pressure on them to perform and to excel in front of the home crowd and that too in a tournament which is called the “World Cup,” it was never easy. But it was the patience and quality of tackling pressure now that the youngsters in the team have been able to that’s give the team a smooth sailing even in the rough time.
After losing the toss in the finals, as there was some confusion perhaps due to the noise from the crowd that toss had to be done again and when Lanka won it and decided to bat first, many looked at ease thinking it was better to know the target and then chase it off as per the plan.
As India has a long batting line up and the form in which our players were, people thought anything between 260-280 odd runs would be not bad for the Indian side.
After the brilliant century by Mahela Jayawardhane, it was the turn of Virendra Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. There were lots of hopes from Sachin as it was his home ground but after Viru got out on a duck, there was complete silence in the stadium and all looked shocked as he got out LBW in the very first over of Lasith Malinga on the second ball. Soon, Sachin also fell prey to Malinga when India was 31 and the score on the board displayed India 31/2.
Then it was the crucial partnership of more than 90 runs between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli which stabilized the Indian innings and when Kohli got out, it was captain M S Dhoni who came out to rescue his team and he made sure that he remained there on the crease till Indian side reached the victory line. He batted brilliantly along with Gautam Gambhir and put India in a commanding position. Gambhir missed his century by three runs.

It was Dhoni and Yuvraj who finished the innings for India and a long dream for millions of Indian cricket fans came true Saturday night when these two made sure that no more wicket fell for India and India became the World Champion in a close fighting game.
It was a big-big win for Indian team. Right from the President and Prime Minister of India every body congratulated MSD and his team members for this historic win. BCCI has announced to give one crore each to the players, Rs 50 lakh to supporting staff and Rs 25 lakh to the selectors of the team.