Rise of Team India in World Cricket

Before I comment on the current state of Indian Cricket, do allow me to go back to that golden generation of 90s.

Yup, Golden! Now I say that coz I believe it was the last decade which can be considered to be unaffected by the advent of net, satellite television, smartphones and X-box kinda gaming; even aloof from the dinosaur that social media has become today.

I vividly remember those late nineties’ years when the entire family used to sit together watching Mahabharata, Ramayana, Shri Krishna and of course, Shanti and Shaktimaan. There was one more which I can't help but mention, relatively less popular, but the one which touched my heart-strings for the longest period, “School Days”. Now am not sure if I got the title of that weekend show right but clearly remember the refreshing take of teen-romance in it.

And then 90s had something more! Any wishful guesses?

Yesss, you got that one, didn't you?....... a certain SACHIN TENDULKAR! ?

I started out as a "reluctant" cricket follower, or "disinterested" may be the apt word here. In those days Doordarshan was the only television channel we subscribed to (free), and to my utter disbelief (inexplicable in the eyes of a 7-8 year old) it preferred to telecast India’s limited over internationals LIVE on match days! The 4 pm time slot on a Sunday, reserved exclusively for classic Hindi movies, went for a toss too whenever Men in Blue took to field!

After a few months though, disinterested still but now-sufficiently-curious, I began to observe the mannerisms of one 5 feet 5 inches childish-look-alike cricketer who somehow always seemed the sole focal point of every maddening occurrence on the field. 

I grew up watching Sachin! In fact not only me but seemingly my entire generation grew up as Sachin grew big in world cricket. India started taking giant strides post ‘91 economic liberalisation and it just seemed so very natural that anything and everything happening nationally or internationally w.r.t. our country, was in part connected to this Kohinoor who was busy changing the face of batsmanship across the Globe!

And then, aah… Sharjah happened. That sudden backlift, high elbow backfoot straight drive, up-and-over the sight screen, for a straight SIX off the bowling of an ironically giant-like Michael Kasprowicz, still remains the most frequent cricketing sight in my dreams; Nopes, not that ’83 moment, neither that Mahi’s 2011 moment, it was this ’98 SIX which still trumps everything.

Thousands and thousands of words would fall short if I start dissecting every memory, every moment of joy that the little master brought in my life, much like he did in the lives of zillions of other Indians. So, let’s keep the usual glorification for some other day!

Finally, the fab five arrived, and joined little Tendya, to conquest every cricketing record that India was away from till '99-00.

Fast forward, 9th August, 2017!

India leads the ICC Test rankings by a huge, huge margin! They are the proud owners of most 400+ totals in limited overs history and most 600+ totals too, over the last 9 months in the "Unlimited" form of cricket. The mighty Aussies are nowhere in the vicinity. England, of all countries, have started to break the barriers which was once considered nigh impossible, particularly in ODIs. 

However, a few things specific to cricket, fought tooth and nail only to remain stagnant. These are those rare constants even in today's fast-changing world. One, South Africa still very much remain the intriguing powerhouse of cricket that just can’t win a trophy, can it? I don’t think even 11 ABDs can change that “C” tag now. Too perplexing a thought. Don't know why, and hence the mystery I suppose. Two, and the more positive one, our naturally gifted neighbour, Pakistan, the unpredictable Pakistan! 

The now-forgotten hopeless state of Pakistan just a couple of months back was such that when Dhawan and Sharma took guard 51 days ago in London, chasing a tall total in the first ever Indo-Pak ICC ODI final, it still felt like a stroll in the park for our unfallen warriors, for our charismatic chasers (read Kohli and MSD), for our very own “Invincibles”!

Yet we fell! And fell rather submissively. We were not only humbled but given the hiding of our lives. Yes, Pakistan finally did that unthinkable, and did it alright. Theirs was a thoroughly complete performance on that fateful Sunday night, and we mustn’t have any shame in accepting that we were outplayed by a better team on the given day. It was their day and they deserved every bit of this sporadic happiness, especially after what the nation had gone through since the terrorist attack on a Visiting team in '09 and spot-fixing saga in '10.

So, 2017 it is. And BCCI, even after the Lodha turmoil in past year and a half, holds all the aces as far as International Cricket at large and ICC in particular is concerned. Virat Kohli is in the process of potentially becoming that one player, after Sachin, who can impact many generations to come. His is an aggressively combative style of batsmanship, consistently-ceaseless on-your-face attitude, strictest of work ethic, obsessively obsessed fitness regime and what not! Overall, Kohli is an absolute freak of a character. Oh…Hang on! Was I talking about an Aussie?? 

Nah, definitely not. This time it is one of our own, the Brightest star of cricketing Galaxy today.

India is blessed. Well and Truly. 

With a pipeline of 5-6 genuinely fast pacers, an upcoming explosive "seam" all-rounder and a couple of world class spinners citing business-as-usual, India is prospectively primed to break the Aus-SA duck this coming season.

May the force be forever with these Boys. Hoping to next witness the best two years in the history of modern cricket.

Let the countdown begin!

Note: This article was first published by me on August 9th, 2017 on my personal website www.mukeshthewonderboy.straightfromtheheart.co.in