Basking in the glory of having won the World Cup, we soon found ourselves amidst the biggest mass movement that I have seen against corruption. One 72 year man has brought the mango man (Aam Aadmi) to the streets in support of a burning cause in a typical Gandhian way. The pent up angst in people against the corrupt, fuelled by recent multiple expose needed just a little light to ignite the fire, which has been spreading like a jungle fire in last four days. Indians are standing up for greater participation in investigative and punitive process against the corruption at the highest level. The passions are running high and there seems to be a determination to do at least this much for the country. This is all so wonderful to see, so much so that yours truly feels personally involved.
However, one has come across some skeptics too. Skeptics not to the cause, but doubtful against this ‘cricket crazy’ nation’s will and ability to take part in the just social cause all the same. Initial responses read “people of this country can only come out to celebrate cricketing glory and nothing else…” But as the support grew and more people came on streets, there is a call “why are cricketers, who support Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar, not supporting the cause? Perhaps they are corrupt too...” Thankfully, MS Dhoni has expressed his support and asked people to join the movement, lest a hero on 2nd April would have been termed a greedy and corrupt captain. The latest one doing the rounds is “you wait till IPL starts and everyone will forget about the Anna Hazare cause…” Most surprisingly, this is coming from people who love the game and were tracking the world cup matches hoping for an Indian win. I am sure they would have celebrated the winning moments in their own ways.
Yet there is an element, or rather a fear of ‘Cricket’ Vs ‘Everything’ contest going on in minds of people right now. This is where the Etcetera of the Cricket comes into the fore. Yes, we are a cricket crazy nation and why should there be any negativity attached to it? Cricket as a game collectively enthralls us and kindles the passion that we have for the country. I find the belief that it (that passion) is restricted to cricket and cricket players totally unfounded. On the contrary, I feel one of the reasons that we see this unprecedented number of people coming out to actively support the cause is the timing of this movement which is just after cricket world cup win. All of us witnessed the fight for RTI, yet we didn’t see ourselves on streets then. India winning world cup a day before works brilliantly, the people are emotionally charged up, filled with pride and looking for ways to contribute in individual and collective successes. A cause is shown to them, something which is close to their heart, and that positive energy has got channelized into something bigger. I do not think this huge support is ‘despite’ the cricket and would rather believe that it is ‘because’ of cricket.
Which way will the people go once the IPL starts later today is yet to be seen. As for me, I am for the cause and will love to make the country’s leadership accountable to people when it comes to corruption. But I love my beer too and I love my cricket as well. I will certainly find a way to express all three loves at the same time and enjoy the Cricket as well as the Etcetera that comes with it!!!
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Friday, April 8, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Resolve, The Game and The Glory!
It is the day after. The euphoria has settled but make no mistake, it has not reduced even by a millimeter. 45 days ago it all started with a few question marks - Will team India live up to it's expectations? What about the format? We are the best team on the paper, But? Will India be able to handle the expectation of a billion people? Will they do it for Sachin? Mercifully, it has all ended with an exclamation mark - exclamation of joy, of ecstasy, of pride and of dreams getting fulfilled. Well done India!
There will be views and reviews about the tournament and what made team India click and made us the world champions. More often than not, there would be discussions about individual contributions - Yuvi's miraculous comeback; Dhoni's impeccable leadership; Sachin's determination; Zaheer's piercing bowling; Kirsten's mission accomplished; so and so forth. These individual contributions (all of them) are worthy of the praises that they will get and lessons from each one of them will inspire the newer bread to succeed and create more winners in field of sports as well as corporate and social domain.
In my previous blog two things were highlighted, one of them was the importance of three (last three) matches and the other one was the ability to tackle the tag of the favourites. Irrespective of whatever happened in the league stage, it was India's resolute performance in these last three match which landed them with the coveted cup in their hands. In quarterfinals against Australia, India faced the reigning champions who showed that they still had it in them to lift the cup one more time, yet India were still the favorites for the match. Out of nowhere India lifted their fielding and late middle order batting to get past them. As much as skills, that match was won by team India with an overpowering passion and commitment to win at all cost.
Then it was the pot boiler of a semifinal against Pakistan, who had come up like a dark horse, defeating Srilanka in Srilanka and the mighty Australians in their league stage. Here too, India were running with the burden of expectations before the match started. Quite a few of us didn't give the credit where it was due after India won that match. Yes it was a scratchy win, but it was a scratchy match simply because of the unadulterated pressure (sportingly, historically and politically) attached to it. India Vs Pakistan match at such level can and will be won only by the team which handles this pressure better and the fact that Pakistan dropped catches and Indians held them goes on to show who handled that pressure better in this semifinal.
Then it was the finals against Srilankans who had knocked at the doors earlier by being in the semis in the previous world cup edition. Once again, playing at home India had an edge going into this game. The tone was set in first hour of the match as one observed Indian fielding reach an unprecedented height. Interestingly it wasn't only Yuvraj, Raina and Kohli who were rising to the occasion as expected, but also it was that brilliant catch of Sehwag in the slips, Zaheer diving around at the boundary amidst his opening spell of 5 overs and Sreesanth on the leg side boundary - all underscoring a resolve I have never witnessed from this team in this tournament, before or for that matter ever before. If there were any doubts about the fact that team India had raised it's game to be worthy of the cup, it was put at rest during the chase when both the star batsmen were lost early. Gautam, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvi chased the total down with a level of grit and determination which showed that their life depended on this win.
There was a stark difference in how the two finalist had played their last three games. At one end, it was Srilanka who had got over toothless England and skill deficient New Zealand who somehow managed to be on the right side of an upset quarterfinals. Playing in their Colombo den, Srilankan Lions had roared through to the finals. Whereas, India had already played two finals before they played Srilanka in Mumbai yesterday. They had already lifted their game and demonstrated how ready, hungry and skilled they were before the finals. They say Srilanka missed a few tricks on the field and I agree. Sanga, normally a smart captain wasn't probably acclimatized enough to do the things that you need to do in situations he found himself in that cracker of a final. Jayawardhene had given them more than a hope while batting, but he was not prepared for what he got from Indian middle order.
As expected, it was 'a cup of three matches' and it was won by the 15 men who, driven by lots of skill and one motivation called Sachin Tendulkar, cracked these three matches. This world cup victory and its memory is not limited to the final in Mumbai but each of These three Games that have left behind pride and Glory for the recently counted 1.21 billion passionate Indians... and more. Long live the Glory of my motherland India and long live the Game of Cricket! Amen!!!
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
There will be views and reviews about the tournament and what made team India click and made us the world champions. More often than not, there would be discussions about individual contributions - Yuvi's miraculous comeback; Dhoni's impeccable leadership; Sachin's determination; Zaheer's piercing bowling; Kirsten's mission accomplished; so and so forth. These individual contributions (all of them) are worthy of the praises that they will get and lessons from each one of them will inspire the newer bread to succeed and create more winners in field of sports as well as corporate and social domain.
In my previous blog two things were highlighted, one of them was the importance of three (last three) matches and the other one was the ability to tackle the tag of the favourites. Irrespective of whatever happened in the league stage, it was India's resolute performance in these last three match which landed them with the coveted cup in their hands. In quarterfinals against Australia, India faced the reigning champions who showed that they still had it in them to lift the cup one more time, yet India were still the favorites for the match. Out of nowhere India lifted their fielding and late middle order batting to get past them. As much as skills, that match was won by team India with an overpowering passion and commitment to win at all cost.
Then it was the pot boiler of a semifinal against Pakistan, who had come up like a dark horse, defeating Srilanka in Srilanka and the mighty Australians in their league stage. Here too, India were running with the burden of expectations before the match started. Quite a few of us didn't give the credit where it was due after India won that match. Yes it was a scratchy win, but it was a scratchy match simply because of the unadulterated pressure (sportingly, historically and politically) attached to it. India Vs Pakistan match at such level can and will be won only by the team which handles this pressure better and the fact that Pakistan dropped catches and Indians held them goes on to show who handled that pressure better in this semifinal.
Then it was the finals against Srilankans who had knocked at the doors earlier by being in the semis in the previous world cup edition. Once again, playing at home India had an edge going into this game. The tone was set in first hour of the match as one observed Indian fielding reach an unprecedented height. Interestingly it wasn't only Yuvraj, Raina and Kohli who were rising to the occasion as expected, but also it was that brilliant catch of Sehwag in the slips, Zaheer diving around at the boundary amidst his opening spell of 5 overs and Sreesanth on the leg side boundary - all underscoring a resolve I have never witnessed from this team in this tournament, before or for that matter ever before. If there were any doubts about the fact that team India had raised it's game to be worthy of the cup, it was put at rest during the chase when both the star batsmen were lost early. Gautam, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvi chased the total down with a level of grit and determination which showed that their life depended on this win.
There was a stark difference in how the two finalist had played their last three games. At one end, it was Srilanka who had got over toothless England and skill deficient New Zealand who somehow managed to be on the right side of an upset quarterfinals. Playing in their Colombo den, Srilankan Lions had roared through to the finals. Whereas, India had already played two finals before they played Srilanka in Mumbai yesterday. They had already lifted their game and demonstrated how ready, hungry and skilled they were before the finals. They say Srilanka missed a few tricks on the field and I agree. Sanga, normally a smart captain wasn't probably acclimatized enough to do the things that you need to do in situations he found himself in that cracker of a final. Jayawardhene had given them more than a hope while batting, but he was not prepared for what he got from Indian middle order.
As expected, it was 'a cup of three matches' and it was won by the 15 men who, driven by lots of skill and one motivation called Sachin Tendulkar, cracked these three matches. This world cup victory and its memory is not limited to the final in Mumbai but each of These three Games that have left behind pride and Glory for the recently counted 1.21 billion passionate Indians... and more. Long live the Glory of my motherland India and long live the Game of Cricket! Amen!!!
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
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