It was the 1992 World Cup that awakened me to the world of cricket…I still remember how we would wake up early in the morning to watch the matches… India had lost a league match against Australia by just 1 run despite a brilliant 92 by the then captain Azhar… That was my first cricketing disappointment…Since then I have lived through many more cricket matches in my life…There have been some moments of immense pride and glory, though I have been badly hurt many times by the dismal performances of our sporting heroes… If I remember correctly, it was the Hero Cup semi-final that made me an ardent fan of our little master, the God of Cricket, Sachin, who snatched a sure victory from Proteus to ensure our berth in the final… Memories of two successive centuries by Sachin, against Australia, are still fresh in my mind… A destructive 182 and a defensive 152 by Azhar against England in two consecutive test matches, in the 1993 test series, on home turf, still fill me with pride… I still feel overjoyed about our victory in the Independence Cup… Yuvraj was the saviour with a stunning innings in that clash… I can never forget the tears of ecstasy in Saurav Da’s eyes after the NatWest trophy win at Lords… There are countless memories and moments to relate…
We have never had a dearth of talent… Magical and wristy Azhar, elegant and stylish Dravid, aggressive and committed Saurav, perfect and destructive Sachin, hard working Shrinath, iconic Kapil Dev, combative Kumble and recently Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer; we have always had match winners… Though a victory in the final and semi finals at the World Cup has always eluded us, so far… We deserved the cup in 2003, when our belligerent and undoubtedly India’s best-ever captain, Saurav Dada ensured that we reached final… However, God had written a different script, we were brutally thrashed in the title clash. Wounds of that defeat are healed though it has scarred my mind forever…
This year, in our world cup campaign, we have had a bumpy ride, so far… It’s a great feeling that we thrashed the incumbent champion, the mighty Aussies, convincingly in the quarter finals, though the road ahead is not that easy… There is no place for complacence, I hope and pray that our players show the same commitment and discipline against our arch rivals in the semi-final…
We have lived our moments of sorrow and disappointments… We have had enough of heart-breaking and exasperating moments… We don’t want to see our heroes falter anymore in crucial contests… We are no longer content with a berth in the semi finals… We wouldn’t want to see our heroes fall… Oh my men in blue, let’s rise to the occasion… We want you to win the cup for us… We want you to clinch the title… Yuvraj, Sachin and Sehwag, let’s annihilate our opponents bowling… Zack, bring in the fire power in your attack… Please don’t let our beloved country down… We want you to trigger off your rampaging spree against our opponents and ensure a convincing victory in both the matches…
Let’s open the door for a glorious reign of the Indian Cricket and bring an end to the barbaric dominance of the Kangaroos over the game… Long live my cricketing heroes, long live India!!!
