World-cup cricket carnival has got over with a fabulous Indian team holding aloft the coveted trophy after the lapse of 27 years. The victory is sweet and memorable for the simple reason that it has come after a prolonged wait of millions of fans from a cricket crazy nation. While India reaching the last eight stages, the contest got hotter and India emerged triumphant against the formidable Aussies thus ending their hegemony in the quadrennial cricket extravaganza and with that win Indian team set up a semifinal clash against their arch-rivals Pakistan.
On the match day, in the afternoon, this author happened to visit many of the central business district areas of Bangalore city and the cricket mania was all pervading. The roads wore a deserted look and it was quite evident by the fact that schools, colleges, shops, corporate houses and Government establishments witnessed a low attendance and a few of them who attended were in a hurry to leave home to catch the action live. Such was the match fervor!! And the cult status cricket enjoys in India.
The build-up going into the match with Pakistan was unprecedented as it has set the tone for what is now known as ‘Cricket Diplomacy”. Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan were in attendance to witness the high profile clash between the two Asian cricketing giants. Right from the word go, the match generated enough hysteria among the fans on either side and they watched every ball bowled with bated breath, cheered for every boundary hit, and wickets fallen.
India batting first put up a competitive total against some good Pakistan bowling attack who at one time threatened to run through the famed Indian batting line-up but thanks to India’s late order batsmen whose cameo helped lend respectability to Indian score. Despite Pakistan’s valiant effort, they lost the plot against disciplined Indian bowling and eventually succumbed to the big match pressure and handed India a memorable victory.
What to say how Indian fans celebrate every time India wins against Pakistan. The ecstatic cricket fans celebrated like virtual Deepavali festival all over India with bursting of crackers and the fireworks lit the night sky with sparkle and dazzled the wayfarers. Some fans were out on the roads with zipping bikes and blaring horns with gay abandon and were shouting slogans hailing Indian victory.
Basking in the glory of victory against Pak, for a while, Indian fans forgot that India has to cross another hurdle in the form Srilanka to reach the summit in world cricket. The final title clash against Srilanka generated enough hype all over the country. The match was promised to be one of a humdinger since the fight was between two equals in strength, guile and skills.
As promised the match turned out to be a thriller and Srilanka batting first put up a matching winning total and it was a challenge for India to overhaul the score at such a big stage that of World cup finals and history was not in favor of India as no team in the world cup finals chased down such a big total.
When Inidan response began, all eyes were glued to television and to the heartbreak of many, India lost its first wicket in the very first over causing enough jittery among Indian fans. It appeared India were in the course of recovery, Srilanka dealt second salvo with that Tendulkar returned to pavilion and millions of Indians’ hope come cropper. But later order Indian batsmen showed enough guts and gumption and held the Srilankan bull by its horns and tamed it to surrender.
When the match was on, it was undeclared bundh day in India. Cutting across the social strata, every Indian was under the grip of the final match. It was one such joyous occasion for every Indian. And the victory in the final match sent Indian fans over the moon and the celebrations hit zenith with India holding aloft the coveted trophy after a couple of decades.
As promised the match turned out to be a thriller and Srilanka batting first put up a matching winning total and it was a challenge for India to overhaul the score at such a big stage that of World cup finals and history was not in favor of India as no team in the world cup finals chased down such a big total.
When Inidan response began, all eyes were glued to television and to the heartbreak of many, India lost its first wicket in the very first over causing enough jittery among Indian fans. It appeared India were in the course of recovery, Srilanka dealt second salvo with that Tendulkar returned to pavilion and millions of Indians’ hope come cropper. But later order Indian batsmen showed enough guts and gumption and held the Srilankan bull by its horns and tamed it to surrender.
When the match was on, it was undeclared bundh day in India. Cutting across the social strata, every Indian was under the grip of the final match. It was one such joyous occasion for every Indian. And the victory in the final match sent Indian fans over the moon and the celebrations hit zenith with India holding aloft the coveted trophy after a couple of decades.
As it is a popular saying in the country, if cricket is a religion in India then Sachin is a god of cricket. Cricket is a common thread that binds whole India into one. Cricket in India is all pervading force. A corporate head honcho doesn’t mind in enquiring what’s the score with a street vendor in a busy Mumbai sub-urban street and a high profile politico who is waiting to catch a flight expresses his curiosity in knowing the latest on the match situation and cricket is a talking point in parliament, judicial circle, corporate, academia, and rural and urban mass of India and in a nutshell its spread is every nook and corner of India.
I remember once reading a line in one of the novels of famous philosopher George Bernard Shaw saying, “Death is a great leveler”. But I can say in India, “The cricket is a great leveler”.
No comments:
Post a Comment