World Cup 2011

Finally after 28 years of waiting, India has won the World Cup. With celebrations heard all around, every city, state, in every nook & corner of India, one can easily imagine how much the Indians expected this trophy to come back in India.
Indian team did fallout against South Africa in the group stages, but after rising from that hiccup, they never turned their back at the challenges. Qualifying for the knockout stages was expected to be a walk in the park for them, and they didn't seem to be very much concerned about it. Then came the real fight for survival, first the Kangaroos, and then the mighty rivals Pakistan. After getting win in these 2 games, the confidence returned to the team, and it showed in their body languages, in terms of their fielding and much improved bowling.
I was in Allahabad at the time of WC, and saw an immense excitement in the locals. They used to colour their faces in tricolors, and take the TV sets in the open and watch the entire match with enthuse and dancing at every possible chance. And every awesome show of an Indian win would increase their hopes, anticipation & vigour manifolds. As we all know, cricket is more like a religion than a game in India, so it was not a surprising to see them showing off their emotions at the opponents.

                    Talking of the finale, the toss was won by Sri Lanka, and they put India to field first. On papers, a 6-wicket win may look like a comfortable chase, but it wasn't like that; India, especially Gambhir & Dhoni chased up the game to show the door to the Lankans.

                     This WC win becomes more pronounced due to the fact that it was the last WC for Sachin, and he hadn't had any WC wins in his account, so the WC also puts an end to his WC drought.
After the match, the team took a winning lap, with Sachin on the shoulders to show him gratitude for his services to the Indian team.
I wish all the good luck for the Indian team for their future round of matches, wish they continue their consistent run.




Well done team INDIA!!!!