2nd April 2011, the day every Indian woke up with an apprehension. It can't be that good. We already had two good to believe matches and it's too much to ask to repeat the same performance against our old nemesis, the Lankans. On the paper, they stood no chance, however, this advantage has always been there and it gave no comfort to our restless souls that we have lost that advantage every time on the field.
People started to gather, discussions started, conference rooms turned into war rooms. Avid readers of the game started bringing out minute details of the game. Players, their weaknesses, their omens, good luck charms, facts, myths and what not? Nothing was left untouched by the cricket fever.
I had my own demons to take care of as the history that we share with lankans goes back to the days of Azharuddin's captaincy and prime-form Sachin. 1996 World Cup had Sachin written all over it. However, a few dark horses, Pardon me for the language, but at least a dozen of people will vouch that I can never be a racist. So, a few dark horses from the island nation took that cup away from the curly haired maestro. A billion hearts were broken on that fateful day when Eden Garden lush green beauty failed to alleviate the pain. From there on, any win over SriLanka would be a consolation to the Indian fans. The gutsy islanders didn't stopped there. They came to the party in 2007 when the economic heavyweight of the cricketing world failed to qualify for the second round. The ball that left Dilhara Fernando's hand didn't just knocked off little champs off stump, it shattered the decade old faith that Indians had in Sachin.
Quite contrary to the saying which states that it's very hard to regain the trust once broken. Sachin resurrected himself from the ashes and turned himself into a magician. Since then Seamers, Swingers, Spinners, Slingers and Chuckers, all failed to make any lasting impression on his willow. This time around, Team India was looking forward to a performance that will do justice to their reputation. They started the tournament with the tag of favorites, then they were criticized heavily for their lethargic ground fielding and poor tactics. Their bowlers were rated so lowly that even the underdogs would have mocked at them.
However, destiny had something special planned for us, 2nd April's scorching sun burnt all the ifs and buts that were floating around and shone so brightly that even an iota of darkness was not left in the Indian hearts. On this very day, 11 incarnations of Hanumans battled hard against their Zillenium old foes and banished all the pain and excuses to triumph against all the odds. On 2nd April 2011, A Ticket Collector who used to stand on the khargpur's mile long platform was destined to make history, an abusive yet benevolent villager from Ikhar was destined to make history, a jat from the harayana was destined to make history and a curly haired boy with dreamy eyes from mumbai was destined to make history and they certainly made history and Boy in what a grand style!!
People started to gather, discussions started, conference rooms turned into war rooms. Avid readers of the game started bringing out minute details of the game. Players, their weaknesses, their omens, good luck charms, facts, myths and what not? Nothing was left untouched by the cricket fever.
I had my own demons to take care of as the history that we share with lankans goes back to the days of Azharuddin's captaincy and prime-form Sachin. 1996 World Cup had Sachin written all over it. However, a few dark horses, Pardon me for the language, but at least a dozen of people will vouch that I can never be a racist. So, a few dark horses from the island nation took that cup away from the curly haired maestro. A billion hearts were broken on that fateful day when Eden Garden lush green beauty failed to alleviate the pain. From there on, any win over SriLanka would be a consolation to the Indian fans. The gutsy islanders didn't stopped there. They came to the party in 2007 when the economic heavyweight of the cricketing world failed to qualify for the second round. The ball that left Dilhara Fernando's hand didn't just knocked off little champs off stump, it shattered the decade old faith that Indians had in Sachin.
Quite contrary to the saying which states that it's very hard to regain the trust once broken. Sachin resurrected himself from the ashes and turned himself into a magician. Since then Seamers, Swingers, Spinners, Slingers and Chuckers, all failed to make any lasting impression on his willow. This time around, Team India was looking forward to a performance that will do justice to their reputation. They started the tournament with the tag of favorites, then they were criticized heavily for their lethargic ground fielding and poor tactics. Their bowlers were rated so lowly that even the underdogs would have mocked at them.
However, destiny had something special planned for us, 2nd April's scorching sun burnt all the ifs and buts that were floating around and shone so brightly that even an iota of darkness was not left in the Indian hearts. On this very day, 11 incarnations of Hanumans battled hard against their Zillenium old foes and banished all the pain and excuses to triumph against all the odds. On 2nd April 2011, A Ticket Collector who used to stand on the khargpur's mile long platform was destined to make history, an abusive yet benevolent villager from Ikhar was destined to make history, a jat from the harayana was destined to make history and a curly haired boy with dreamy eyes from mumbai was destined to make history and they certainly made history and Boy in what a grand style!!
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