The Fallen has Risen - India's comeback turnaround orchestrated by 3 Crusaders!

India's conquest over South Africa in the T20 World Cup final 2024 has given it's players and fans much to cherish and rejoice with the manner of victory making it all the more extra special. India clawed it's way from a seemingly improbable situation to register a triumph for the ages and one which would be firmly and proudly etched in it's folklore.

Thus ended India's ignominious draught of not winning a global ICC title for over 11 years and not securing a World Cup for 13 years and not claiming a T20 World Cup for 17 years. The margin was as wafer thin as it could get and the way the team fought like terriers to ensure that the team will not be undone yet again on the big stage in a mega tournament final clash marks signs of a truly Champion side and deservedly so.

The team has gone through a lot across the last decade with consistent performances across the board but all to no avail. The slip ups always tended to happen at the most pivotal stage causing heartbreak time and again. It almost seemed as if a curse was cast upon the Indian cricket team as something or other was always preventing them from crossing the finish line. All the talk of 'Its just a matter of time' appeared to be slashed across the backside since the victory was eluding them for far too long to even contemplate a justification of any repute.

The seed of this particular success was however not sown just now. In fact, there is a long inglorious history associated with it which goes back plenty of years where different outcomes of trauma germinated in indirectly influencing this win and making it a dream come true with redemption being obtained in it's truest essence. Though this victory is attributable to the entire squad including the support staff as each and every member contributed in some way or other to make this feat attainable but for 3 of the members viz Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, this achievement means just a tad extra special considering the pain they've gone through to make this happen. These 3 architects projected the path ahead, transpired to make it happen and inspired India's journey to glory. 

First let's transport back to 2022. Rohit Sharma was appointed captain and was the man in charge of leading his side in the T20 World Cup held in Australia along with Rahul Dravid at the helm of things as coach. India won arguably the match of the tournament against Pakistan with a spectacular showing thanks courtesy to a masterclass from Virat Kohli. All these celebrations turned bitter as just a few days later, India came a cropper being pummelled by the eventual champions England on a day in which they were served a royal drubbing. Things got worse for this duo as they again lost the World Test Championship final in 2023 continuing on from their defeat at the same stage in 2021. When it looked like sanity will finally prevail with India claiming a home ODI WC in 2023 especially after being the most dominant team throughout the tournament came yet again a day of utter disdain with a nightmare being unveiled on the most important day as all the efforts put in throughout the tournament yielded no fruit with a really savage blow being dealt in the final against Australia in front of a billion fans.

Let's now map back to 2014 and the T20 World Cup edition in Bangladesh when this unfortunate draught got implanted. India came in as heavy favourites having just won the Champions Trophy few months back in 2013 and were looking to win their 2nd T20 World Cup. They breezed their way to the final only to be undone by an unfancied Sri Lankan side who came remarkably well prepared in the all important final thus putting a dent in India capturing a major title. This horror run endured from then on for the next decade till 2024. One cricketer induced with misery aplenty happens to be Virat Kohli. He was unfortunate not to be part of the winning side in the 2007 T20 World Cup but he has always been the key performer especially when it comes to this format and more so on the biggest stage which is the World Cup. Both in the 2014 & 2016 T20 World Cup editions, he was the stand out player by a country mile but India as a team again diffused at the big stage losing in the finals and semifinals respectively. If the T20 format was his undoing in capturing a victory for his beloved nation, the despair only extended further with Kohli registering the highest ever total runs amassed in any ODI World Cup only to again be on the losing side in the final of the ODI WC 2023.

We will now go a step further way back specifically to 2007. The current coach of Indian team Rahul Dravid was granted the leadership role and expected to take India all the way after the shattering defeat encountered in the 2003 ODI WC final. When India was hoping to go one better, what ensured was the lowest ebb in India's cricketing history as they bowed out in the very first round causing utter humiliation and disgrace. The whole episode was taken so badly that effigies were burnt of the players by the general public. This turmoil and outcry led to Dravid being stripped of the captaincy in what could said to be the lowest point of his career. As a player, Dravid was a class apart and considered one of India's greatest servants but it was indeed sad that he could never be part of a world cup winning side. He did make amends by coaching the U-19 side to a world cup triumph after failing in his first assignment but striking gold on the second occasion. However one always felt that the man deserved a hurrah with the senior Indian cricketing side as well and when the chance came to take the perfect revenge by avenging the loss as a player in the WC final of 2003, the same story unfolded yet again 20 years later in 2023 as a heavily favoured Indian side had it's worst day coming to a halt on that ill fateful day in Ahmedabad. Dravid also decided to quit as coach after this debacle but was coaxed by the camp to stay on for another 6 months till the T20 World Cup 2024 which he reluctantly agreed.

For Rahul Dravid, to end his career as coach by leading India to a World Cup trophy is a perfect testament dedicated to his greatness and mental toughness. This was at the very same Caribbean 17 years prior in 2007 where he went through horror of the highest magnitude as captain of the Indian team in the ODI World Cup. Also in this particular ground Bridgetown, Barbados that hosted the finale, India encountered an abject shameful defeat in 1997 in a test match against the West Indies where they were shot out for a paltry 81 chasing just 120 with Dravid being part of the team and seeing the collapse unfold. Having been witness to so many regrets running across multiple years, this particular victory to give Dravid the perfect send off makes it so extremely emotional. He may brush this off as just another day as part of his duty but this redemption story certainly couldn't have been scripted any better. Witnessing him hold the trophy aloft beaming with pride unleashing emotions of every kind was truly a sight to behold. Similar is the case with captain Rohit Sharma. Anyone in his place could have just capitulated after what happened in the 2023 ODI WC final. But this man made Australia pay by playing a career defining innings against this very same team in this T20 World Cup by knocking them out and eventually leading his beloved side to a glorious triumph. He wanted this championship so badly and one could see how much this meant to him. Lastly for Virat Kohli to cap off his T20 career with a World cup title to go along with being part of the victorious ODI WC 2011 and Champions Trophy 2013 side places him on a special pedestal. He didn't really have the best of World Cups this time around but cometh the moment and cometh the hour, he showed his class by playing a responsible and crucial knock after the initial setback to eventually win the player of the match trophy in his last ever T20 World Cup match for the country.

The events that transpired on that eventful Saturday of 29th June 2024 at Barbados makes one believe that God truly exists as justice couldn't have been served in a more sweeter manner. The 3 visionaries deserved this redemption more than anything else and rightfully so. This also would rank tribute to being one of India's greatest moments in it's rich cricketing legacy and etched in memory as a day to remember for eternity in India's cricketing fortunes.

Revisiting Nostalgia - A Blast from the Past!

Rewinding the clock back 10 years to this day 13th March 2004.
Reviving Memoirs of an epic cricketing encounter between India and Pakistan.

The Indian Cricket team had been given the go ahead by the Government to tour Pakistan after almost 15 years. Sachin was going back to the place where he made his debut as a diminutive young precocious 16 year old. No Indian or Pakistani cricketer barring Tendulkar had been part of the earlier 1989 tour. The entire country was waiting with bated breath for the series to get underway.
It was a blockbuster in the making and we were all privy to the fact that we were going to witness an historic epoch-making series between the 2 arch rivals.

On the other side of the fence, we were facing our 12th CBSE Board exams which criss-crossed right in between the epicness of epochness which was unfolding at the other end.I wrote my Mathematics Board exam a couple of days ago and was extremely agitated and gutted at myself that I wasn't able to perform as well as I had hoped for. :( It was the subject I was banking on the most but alas it didn't go exactly as I thought , the reactions in the house were para va illa do try to make up by doing better in the other subjects.Surely doing well in the Board exams were in the back of the mind but definitely not at the expense of missing out Indo Pak cricket knowing especially well that the whole world would be glued to their television sets.Decided on a cheap confluencing deal with myself as to how I will watch the cricket and also study parallelly by taking even breaks between both and not getting distracted by either. Of course there was no doubt about the former. :)

And then the real action unfolded on a Saturday morning with the 1st of 5 One Day Internationals played at Karachi. Inzy won the toss and inserted India in. Viru and Sachin got India off to a great start with especially the former in a bull dozing mood flaying the hapless Paki bowlers to all corners of the ground. Especially remember the burly Rana Naved Ul Hasan getting royally murdered by the assassin from Delhi.It was one of the first instances where we go to witness the Nawab of Najafgarh in such a ruthless pile driving mode and in years to come he made Pakistan eat humble pie many a time through his unflinching onslaughts.By the time Sehwag went after belting a whirlwind 79 , Ind had reached close to 150 and were going at almost 10 runs an over. Thoughts of a monumental score crossed the mind.

However the initial momentum sunk and the pace of scoring deteriorated. Rahul Dravid was playing the rearguard anchor innings slowly but steadily taking India to a score of great proportion.It was agonising to see him get castled by a Shoaib Akhtar slow ball for a perilous 99 , (only a single bail had fallen down :() but he had done his job and took India to a commanding total of 349 from their 50 overs.A very high score in those days and perhaps even now. Also the fact that no team had chased 350 before in the history of the game. (Ironically exactly almost 2 yrs hence on 12th March 2006 , South Africa chased down an improbable score of 434 to gun down the Aussies).

Pakistan then began faultily losing 2 quick wickets but then it was the stiching together of a great partnership between the 2 veterans - Mohd. Yousuf (the erstwhile Yousuf Youhana) and Inzamam Ul Haq.Yousuf fell after a well made half century but Inzy continued on his merry way tormenting the Indian bowlers. He was belligerent yet so effortless in the way he made his century.It looked like curtains for India if they didn't get Inzy out soon. And then it happened - Dravid the keeper snapped up a catch off Karthik to end a remarkable innings.

Now the match was neck to neck and it was totally game on. The match was swinging fortunes from one end to another and it was unbearable to watch. Just when you thought India was on top , out came Abdur Razzaq who smashed a few lusty blows to again put Pakis on the ascendancy. And when Razzaq was dismissed, you still had the dangerous Moin Khan and Shoaib Malik who generally take pride in these kind of situations. However when the match was reaching a crescendo , Mohd Kaif leaped across almost air borne avoiding collision with another fielder to pull off a superlative catch to dismiss Shoaib Malik.It was the catch of the match and coming at such a crucial pressure situation , it did really sap up not only the cricketers spirits but also the fans in believing that India could still pull this off. And then the equation narrowed down to 9 runs off the final over , there were discussions on who was to bowl the final over and out came Ashish Nehra. He kept his cool and delivered a series of accurate yorker length deliveries not giving enough room to clear for the Pakistani batsman. It finally boiled down to 6 runs off the final ball.

The intensity was electrifying and the tension of an unyielding proposition. Celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan , Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were at the ground. Javed Miandad the man who hit that infamous six off the last ball off Chetan Sharma all those years ago was voicing out his opinion as coach from the dressing room.I had read and heard about that ill fated acrimonious day in Indian cricket and the last thing I wanted was to see a similar experience getting re-captured all over again.

And then landed that final delivery , it was a low full toss not a great ball by any stretch of imagination but thankfully Moin played the shot too early not getting enough power thus scooping the ball to Zaheer to take a simple catch. There were celebrations all around and also a great sense of relief. India came out of a great escape.

It was a great game of cricket and justified all the initial hype and euphoria surrounding the series.
India went on to win the ODI series 3-2 and also the test series thereafter 2-1.

Its unthinkable and unbelievable to recall that a decade has passed since this game of cricket.
Certain imprints of the game remain truly etched and impregnated in the mind even now. Some days are truly unforgettable and the 13th of March 2004 bears a true testimony to this fact. 10 years is a long time but even now looking back at all the backdrop events surrounding the game, the high octane on and off field events and savouring all those goosebumpy moments makes this date 13th March 2004 and cricket match between India and Pakistan all the more special and nostalgic.

Scorecard : http://www.espncricinfo.com/.../current/match/64880.html
Report : http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/139999.html