Of Cricket.....Sport and Beyond!

Words cannot express the emotions each Indian burst out with on April 2nd, 2011 as Dhoni hit his trademark swash to send the ball sailing across the long on boundary...!Whether you are a cricket lover or not...simply did not matter today...Young and old...men and women...boys and girls...all had only and only one priceless emotion to show for what had just happened... EXHILARATION!!Dhoni's boys rewrote history books and went on to achieve something that had eluded India for 28 long years after what Kapil's men achieved!

There will be innumerable comparisons that will be drawn between these 2 sides in days to come...To be fair...the 2 teams went into their respective world cup campaigns with totally different mindsets...totally different expectations....Yes there were similarities like India exiting the 1979 and the 2007 editions in the first rounds...But there was one difference no one could deny...Kapil's Devils started the 1983 campaign as underdogs and went on to achieve the unimaginable...Dhoni's Team started the 2011 with an expectation and fulfilled it...The team of 1983 left the cricketing world agape after pitting the mighty West Indians...The team of 2011 was more like "We came..we saw..and we conquered.."!

So what exactly is it that separated these 2 champion sides....!That both the captains ended up lifting the World cup for India definitely didn't...What was different was the expectation of the common Indian!The 1983 team went on to win the world stage in England when the sun of Indian dreams was just starting to rise on the far end of the grand Himalayas...The 2011 team re-iterated that feat when India had well and truly arrived on the global stage!And no, I am not talking of the expectations of people from the bunch of cricketers!I am not even talking of the moolah that BCCI has that makes India a global cricketing power!I am talking of the dreams that a common Indian man quietly seems to unload on the 11 guys playing on field!His own dreams!The aspirations of an Indian fan from his own life are what we eventually end up calling "expectations from the team!"No wonder we call cricket a religion in India...For it redefines boundaries of what people can think...it redefines how a common Indian dreams...It imagines the unimaginable!

To say the least, culmination of 2011 Cricket World Cup has been a fairytale for every Indian Cricket fan.The whack of Dhoni's bat was a telling blow to pretty much sum up the sea change the attitude the common Indian has gone...Back in the 80's, a win was celebrated for the simple reason that people simply did not know when will it come again!They simply could not dream everyday night and that mindset pretty much rubbed of on the team!Today...people expect a win every game...and it is pretty much evident from the attitude the team showcases..including the captain who proved his worth by leading from the front WHEN IT MATTERED THE MOST...!

From Kapil Dev to Azhar was an era of slow but steady rise....From Azhar to Ganguly was an era of robust growth...From Ganguly to Dhoni is an era that ushers pride...!Come to think of it...that has been pretty much the growth story of India as a nation, hasn't it?Is it a mere coincidence that the rise of common Indian's dreams coincide with the rise of India as a cricketing power on the global stage?Or is there much more to it than that?Has the upbringing of the past generation caused a change in the attitude of the 11 men a whole nation rests their hopes on?Or is it just the way Indian cricket has risen and the mindset of all and sundry has got nothing to do with it?

The debate of whether Sachin can be considered as GOD after all that has transpired in Indian cricket over the past 2 decades is another rousing topic each one of us has an opinion on...an opinion we all guard...No I am not going into that debate again....but there is one reason why the man has a special place in the Indian heart...It is not the sheer weight of his records or not even the whole world going ga ga over his class...He taught the Indian people to dream...he was the human manifestation of the Indian dream that was stifled for a very long time...Sunil Gavaskar was the glimmer of Indian hope...Sachin was their living dream!No wonder Virat Kohli (who probably was in his diapers when Sachin started playing international cricket) quoted "Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years. It is time we carried him on our shoulders" The burden was not of scoring runs....it was not of winning games for India...it was the burden of keeping the common Indian's dream alive!When Sachin scored...India slept peacefully...Critics might raise their eyebrows and say no one is bigger than the game...even I believe so(refer to the next post)...But here is a man who carried the great Indian dream impeccably in the past 2 decades...Not a spot on his ever rising career that could taint him...No wonder people worship and idolize him....Because to them he was no longer a cricketer..he was a living example of what they wanted to BE!

The raging question is....will the torch of carrying this dream shift after this nerve dangling yet all-satisfying win??Or will the nation still look back at it's old hero on the field to recreate the magic that delves in their heart as they sleep peacefully tonight!Time will surely tell...but all said and done...Indian cricket has arrived and is here to stay...not because of a strong batting lineup...not because of any other cricketing reason...It is purely and purely because of the attitude that this team carries!Kudos Team India...Today you lived our dream!!!