The last over, third ball. Pakistan is just a hit away from history. Joginder Sharma to Misbah Ul Haq. The previous ball had been bludgeoned away over long off for a six. There were four people at our place sitting glued to the television set. All tensed. "Oh no, not again!" I groaned, "There goes the World Cup again". "Please, please, please", we were praying. "Have faith", came a response from the side. I glanced towards the source of the sound and saw my uncle smiling at me. "This time the World Cup is ours", he reassured me. I was perplexed. "How can you be so confident?", my eyes asked him. He said "It's in the eyes". I didn't understand. I kept staring at him. "Look at Dhoni closely", he explained. "Can you see his eyes?". I said yes. And then I knew. I knew that no matter what, today we are not going to lose. I had seen many Indian captains. But then, I had never seen that look. That look of supreme confidence. "Today is our day", it seemed to echo.
Back to the action. Joginder Sharma to Misbah Ul Haq. Joginder is half way in his bowling run up. Misbah moves to the offside. He waits. He has already made up his mind. This has to go over short fine leg. All the three stumps are exposed. The ball takes an eternity to reach him on release from Joginder's hand. Misbah plays the shot that has fetched him a lot of runs in the series. A cheeky loft over fine leg. The ball is in the air. Ravi Shastri seconds my opinion. "Oh my God!" Fine leg is inside the 30 yards circle. This will definitely clear him and Pakistan are gonna win. "Not again".
Ravi Shastri brought me back to reality. "The ball is in the air. Sreesanth under it. Sreesanth takes it". Hold your breath, hold your breath, here comes the big one. "INDIA ARE WORLD TWENTY TWENTY CHAMPIONS". We erupted, all four of us. Me, Tema, Neeraj and my uncle(never before had I seen him jump out of his seat in joy). We shouted like never before. We danced like never before. And for a while, everything else didn't matter. I was the happiest person in this world. Satisfaction, happiness, relief, you name it, I had it. I can die (when I do die) knowing that I had had the feeling of absolute happiness, at least once in life. There can be no greater feeling than what I was feeling then.
Back to the action. Joginder Sharma to Misbah Ul Haq. Joginder is half way in his bowling run up. Misbah moves to the offside. He waits. He has already made up his mind. This has to go over short fine leg. All the three stumps are exposed. The ball takes an eternity to reach him on release from Joginder's hand. Misbah plays the shot that has fetched him a lot of runs in the series. A cheeky loft over fine leg. The ball is in the air. Ravi Shastri seconds my opinion. "Oh my God!" Fine leg is inside the 30 yards circle. This will definitely clear him and Pakistan are gonna win. "Not again".
Ravi Shastri brought me back to reality. "The ball is in the air. Sreesanth under it. Sreesanth takes it". Hold your breath, hold your breath, here comes the big one. "INDIA ARE WORLD TWENTY TWENTY CHAMPIONS". We erupted, all four of us. Me, Tema, Neeraj and my uncle(never before had I seen him jump out of his seat in joy). We shouted like never before. We danced like never before. And for a while, everything else didn't matter. I was the happiest person in this world. Satisfaction, happiness, relief, you name it, I had it. I can die (when I do die) knowing that I had had the feeling of absolute happiness, at least once in life. There can be no greater feeling than what I was feeling then.
We are the Champions of the World. Congratulations Team India. Congratulations and Thank you. I shall ever remain indebted.
No comments:
Post a Comment