FROM CHOKERS TO CHAMPIONS AGAIN(IN CRICKET)

कौन कहता है आसमाँ में सुराख नहीं हो सकता, एक पत्थर तो तबीयत से उछालो यारों

FROM CHOKERS TO CHAMPIONS AGAIN[CRICKET]

FROM  ASHES TO CHAMPIONS , FROM CHOKERS OF CONTEMPORARY CRICKET  TO REVIVAL OF CHAMPIONS OF A CRICKET CRAZY COUNTRY 

ONE DAYS TO TESTS , TESTS TO T20S ; THE DROUGHT HAS DIED

PHASE-1 

India have lost the world cup final held on 19th November , 2023 and for the mighty cricket fans , like you and me , the next morning doomed. Tears on some of our faces, smile on some of us, some of us accepting the fate as it was destined , but is there really a light at the end of tunnel or not? Are we the new chokers or just cursed with hella-bad-luck on the finished line. Maybe to many of you , these things can be true but after swelling your hearts with remorse and your eyes with gloomy reversal from moments of match. We need to comprehend India`s cricket journey from 1975 and dissect that one way or the other , if we are that consistent with our performances , how long will we falter on our own fault lines? 

The first ODI world cup in the history for cricket took place in 1975 , that was held in England . one inning used to be of 60 over and two groups were made . the performance of Indian team was exceptionally bad , and we lost 2 out of 3 league matches , making us not to qualify for knockouts. In the next ODI world cup 1979, India lost all 3 league world cup . this was India`s most disappointing world cup performances . Then came the year of glories and glow-ups,  it was the first world-cup when groups were not made ,  due to which every time has to play double the number of matches that it played earlier . Kapil Dev , an all rounder was made the captain. The cricket history would have changed from then, as India won its first match against consecutive champions west indies, though it lost two matches but was able to again triumph over the Caribbean in the final and became the second nation after them to become champion in the most significant tournament in the white ball cricket . then came the year 1987 , when first time the tournament was hosted out of England ,  that is by India and Pakistan jointly , also the innings would only be of 50 overs rather than 60 over as the heat in these nation were considered blood boiling. India won 5 out of 6  league matches in this world cup , becoming the table topper .

Chetan sharma , an India bowler became the first one to take hattrick in a match against Kiwis. The champions of tournament was Australia .  the next ODI World-cup would be played in 1992 , the host nations were New Zealand and Australia , due to which the performance of Indian players faltered. Not only this , but for the first time day and night matches were being played and colored jerseys  were worn by players to represent their nation. In this world-cup only, India played its first match with Pakistan that lead to a lot of excitement and anticipation. India won the match and Sachin Tendulkar became the man of the match , that was also his first very World -Cup, but India couldn`t qualify for knockouts  and the champions of that world cup were Pakistan. The next ODI world-cup was held in 1996, that was hosted combinely by India , Pakistan and Sri Lanka . 

India was able to beat Pakistan in the knockouts but fell on its toes with Sri Lanka in the semis that lead to the disappointment of Indian cricket fans showcasing burning of posters and more . Sri Lanka won the title for that year . The next world cup was held in the gap of only three years In England. The outcome from this World-Cup was that India found a trio of three big batsman that was Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly and the champions were Australia for the second time.  the next ODI World-Cup was held in 2003, in which India was able to reach to the finals but wasn`t able to beat the previous champions Australia as they made a mammoth score batting at first ,i.e, 359 runs. 

In the very next world cup held in 2007, India look approving good papers  , the year when Dhoni played his first ever World Cup , but unfortunately , couldn`t even qualify for the knockouts , winning only one match against Bermuda, making 413 runs , that were the highest by that time , made by any nation. Then came the year of 2011, when Dhoni became the captain of the team and India only lost one match at the league stage against south Africa and was able to chase the target set by Sri Lanka with Gambhir 97 and Dhoni 91* , on which Ravi Shastri writes-“ Dhoni finishes off in style and India was able to win its 2nd ODI World Cup after 28 years “ . Yuvraj Singh became the player of the tournament , it was more meaningful because he played the world cup fighting from cancer.

PHASE -2 

MOVING ON, as we say , the “ the best thing about TIME is that it changes, from good to bad , and similarly from bad to good, and at times to GLORY". Seven months have passed and INDIA IS NO MORE A CHOKER , we have become the CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD , as we won our second T20 WORLCUP on 29th June, 2024  against South Africa at Barbados in the Caribbean. The feeling of euphoria intermingled with ecastacy is buzzing in the hearts and heads of cricketing fans , though the team didn’t look that great at the commencement and the top order kept on faltering at the initial matches , when the vital matches and knockouts came into being , the top order consisting  of ROHIT SHARMA AND VIRAT KOHLI , has done wonders with their weapon.

 The victory means so much  to the nation as a whole, as Ravi Shastri, said that the “The Drought has ended and India has lifted it first ICC world cup trophy after 13 years or so.” But more than reliving on the hangover of the win , we need to deep dive and comprehend that what really made the win possible as the match was not one sided and India has won by seven crucial runs. Majorly we could attribute it to the clever and shrewd captaincy of ROHIT SHARMA , as he bought Jasprit Bumprah up and gave him 18th over rather than 19th , to put a stoppage to the run meter, when KLASSEN , was has hit four sixes in  Axar Patel`s over, the comeback seemed nearly impossible , but gradually wickets did fall and we were able to put the pressure back on the Proteas . 

The match was filled with so many twists and turns , that  a massive cricket fan could have banged their head on the wall, multiple times , but the truth is “ DESTINY FAVOURS THE BRAVE” , that happened in more than one way or the another , as the captain and coach were brave to keep VIRAT , as one of the openers, even after his two ducks and many non contributing performances in the tournament. In final, after loosing 3 consecutive wickets within a span of two overs , ROHIT , took a brave decision to send Axar patel in the 5th position, that ultimately helped Indian team to put up a decent total at the scoreboard of 176/7. Not only this, what Virat did with his bat in the end , proved again, that he is the player of the big match , he kept himself calm in his mind and was appeared courageous from heart . Similarly what Jasprit did with his bowl, not only in the finals but in the whole tournament , by not wickets, but by “substanciallly low economy” , turned the game in our favor in the death overs . But can we forget the ultimate game changing movement ?

When David miller has hit six in the first ball of the 19th over , SKY pounced on it , to snatch away not the ball, but the cup , majorly, shows ,again, “ GOD HELP THOSE, THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES”. But more than that what we need to look forward , in the upcoming year, the champions trophy ,2025 and ICC world test championship, 2025, and take back the lessons that we have learnt within the span of seven months or so. With the end of this T20 worldcup, our three senior players, ROHIT SHARMA, VIRAT KOHLI AND RAVINDRA JADEJA ,have retired from T20 cricket format , as leaving space for the youngsters to garner the fences and fields with their talents and hard work.

 

WHAT A JOY , ONE FEELS TO BE CHAMPIONS ! After so many downfalls cannot be put out into words or so , but still, you would find me writing another blog when we will win another ICC tournament  , hopefully in within a year .  “ PURE PLEASURE COMES AFTER PURE PRACTICE “  as “ COMPLETE CONTENTMENT COMES AFTER COMPLETE COMMITMENT” to the aim . , so lets “ REJOICE ONE MORE FOR OUR TRIUMPH” before gearing up and get back to practice , again. 

LEEZA