April 2nd, 2011. MS Dhoni’s team conquered the cricketing summit at home in Wankhede stadium Mumbai. This was what dreams are made of. Winning world cup after 28 years and that too at home, swansong for India’s greatest cricketing export Sachin Tendulkar in his home ground. City of Mumbai which has time and again provided those cricketing gems to the team India and richly deserved the crowning glory. Triumph of Team India who won all but one game en route the finals and the game lost was to the perennial world cup chokers South Africa. This was a game where India batting first had lost 8 wickets for 30 odd runs in the last 10 overs to sweeten Protea’s bid as if checking if the chokers would choke again.
Personally, I have too many fond memories of this as I had traveled from US to India landed on the day of the quarter finals and watched it live in Ahmedabad and passed up the lure of going to Mohali to watch the battle or more so the war as it was dubbed and staying in Mumbai to watch the magic unfold. Still remember the day when caught up with few friends over breakfast (some of the same poor guys who start shuddering every time I tell them I have a new blog as they being the true friends, have not learnt to disappoint their own). It was truly a magical atmosphere and the DJ at the stadium was belting out some peppy melodious numbers and crowd of 45000 singing in unison. Things got emotional as any Indian event gets. Indians would win all the medals if emotions were awarded any.
Endless ink and print have been spent singing eons of India winning the world cup and no, I am not going to write about that 10 years late. However, I was privy to some of the most rapturous and raucous celebrations that unearthed on the streets of Mumbai (don’t know about others as I wasn’t there). It was a sight to behold and as an Indian, that swelled your chest no end. Brought out who’s who of India to the streets unfurling the tricolor and bursting of the firecrackers and air was filled with the smoke and the auspicious gulal. The ones who owned the customary dhol decided to bring that out and a city known to celebrate its festivals gave quite a show.
India won inaugural world T20 cup in 2007, IPL debuted in 2008 and with the world cup victory of 2011, the blueprint was laid out for catapulting the game to the levels unseen or unheard before. Stage was set for the perfect launchpad for popularity and proliferation of the gentlemen’s game. ICC and BCCI have expanded their coffers multifold thanks to these above-mentioned events. Every cricketing country boasted of their own leagues and were competing against each other to be the one next to the mighty IPL which was in a league of its own (no pun intended).
Things were not hunky dory after 2011 world cup and 2012 presented some unfathomable ebbs for India in the longest form of the game. Indians who had been the best exponent of the white ball had not been comfortable with their older colored cousin red ball and were left wanting both in England and Australia where they suffered some humiliating defeats. England rubbed it in even more when they breached the rather unconquerable subcontinent and made Indians taste dirt again.
Looked like Indians had sacrificed their ability to play the red ball and little did it help that it coincided with the retirement of India’s two finest – Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who decided to ride it in the sunset of their glittering careers. Depth of Indian cricket has been the reason for this growth and continuous production of the assembly line has helped reach the unattainable zenith. In late 2013, cricket’s closest divine form Sachin Tendulkar called time on his career and this would have been a trying time had things not gone right. This is where the process prevailed over players.
Decade of dominance has been great for Indians everywhere. Indians have climbed back up in the world standings in almost every field. India which offers the largest young populace of any other large country in the world, is ready for some prime-time action. My scope is to discuss cricket and will stay with that.
India’s trophy cabinet continues to swell as team at all levels, be it under 19, be it regular team and most recently, even India legends have been bringing home the hardware. This also means that team has been firing at all levels and all cylinders if the success can be seen in last few years in all three forms – be it red, pink or white ball. Of course, there have been occasional bottoms that the team has hit but as in life, likewise in sports, you don’t win them all. It is how you respond to those valleys and attain your peaks talk about the character.
Team India has been winning against all odds and players have realized that they can’t afford to let any opportunity that they get slip by. In life, not everyone gets multiple opportunities and if you let the one you got slip, you may not get another one and that could mean end to your dreams. Has become more of a process and losing some of the important protagonists has not had bearing on the fortunes of the team. This speaks highly of the character, resilience and most importantly, bench strength that has been developed by BCCI as a result of IPL and domestic tourneys. For every position, players can see others breathing in their rear view and that augurs well for the team.
From 2011 to 2021, has been a decade of dominance. However, as the legendary Ian Chappell mentioned if India plays it right, this could be the beginning of something even better. As team India has demonstrated, legends and leaders may retire or players may take timeout to tend to injuries or personal matter, adherence to the process will ensure that team continues to sail through flying colors.
Sit back and relax and hope and wish end of this decade is beginning of another decade of more dominance and we all would love to see Indians conquer the summit. Cricket has been a religion in India and is one of the uniting factors for the most diverse country in the world. This decade also is on the doorstep of the biggest commercialization for the game as United States is entering the fray and we all know where the marketing muscle of the world is and with the Indian CEOs of tech giants flexing their pockets, game and players are ready for a major payday. Won’t be surprised if not anything, US will help create an industry out of cricket jersey selling. Fasten your seatbelts, joyride is beginning soon.
