Demolition Domination & Dazzle

  

The title perfectly summarises Team Australia's Cricket World Cup 2023 Campaign!

Before getting into the details of the winners of the Cricket World Cup 2023, let's take a moment to applaud the valiant efforts of our men in blue.  The way they performed since the beginning of the tournament has been nothing short of extraordinary to say the least. No matter who the opponent was, what the weather conditions were, the men in blue effortlessly performed the job of outplaying their opponents, showcasing their dominance, one game at a time.

Be it Md. Shami's excellence with the ball, or Rohit Sharma's selfless aggressive batting style or Jadeja's all-round excellence or KL Rahul's ability to adjust his game as per his team's requirement or numerous other heroics of the men in blue, every member of the Indian cricket team performed like a true warrior on the field. Yes, the final  result doesn't do justice to the efforts put in by the coaching staff and the players to bring the cup home, lets acknowledge the fact that no team likes coming second but such is the nature of sport, in a knockout game, you have to put your best foot forward every time you step on the field, one average day and you are outplayed by your opponent.  

Now focussing on the other side of the story, lets acknowledge the fact that it takes courage, self-confidence, resilience and a whole lot of hard work to turn things around after losing the initial 2 games of the tournament and backing it up by winning 9 games on the trot and clinching the world cup by defeating the tournament hosts (and favorites, owing to the league game stats and the home advantage). Performances like these signifies  the character of a team and justifies their passion towards the sport. 

As we would all agree, playing the final against the Indians in their backyard is not for the faint-hearted and in my opinion, had it been any other team apart from the mighty Aussies, they would have succumbed to the pressure of facing the crowd of 1.25 lacs+ Indian fans cheering against them. 

Keeping aside the history of Aussies adapting to unfair means once in a while to attain a victory, let's take a moment to appreciate their commitment towards winning the cricket world cup 2023. Be it the long list of injured players, back to back losses in the first 2 games,  crumbling batting order against the underdogs, Afghanistan, they faced it all with grace and whenever the chips were down, just like any champion team would do, they succeeded in living to fight another day. Let's applaud the Aussie's will to fight till the last drop and the ability to hold onto their nerves when it mattered the most, owing to which they managed to outplay their counterparts and win the coveted world cup. 

Let's consider ourselves lucky enough to witness the sheer dominance of Indian Cricket Team, (almost) throughout the course of the tournament. The trophy didn't come home,  but the fans aren't going away, either. Some we win, some we learn,  but the fact remains we will always support our team, through thick and thin. The heroics of the Indian Cricket Team at the 2023 Cricket World Cup will be discussed for a long long time at every cricket crazy household all around the world.  

Write this man off and the joke's on you!!

10 IPL final appearances (out of 14 and not 16 seasons) and 5 IPL trophies later the Captain Cool still lives to fight another day. Such is the aura of the man, who no matter in which ground of the country he stepped out to lead his team at, he snatched away the home advantage from the opponents and thus, by default, succeeded in putting them on the back seat even before a ball had been bowled. Before him, only one (super)man had managed to pull off such a stint in 2010, whom we dearly refer to as the 'God of Cricket'. If this does not speaks volume of a person's character then I don't know what would. 

The post-match ceremony that followed after CSK secured its 5th IPL title, it was way past 2AM on a Tuesday morning and no wonder the spectators at the stadium wanted to go back home, having said, it would be a no-brainer to assume neither did the viewers shut off their screens and the entire nation watched the post match ceremony as eagerly (maybe more) as the last over of the IPL 2023 final, waiting for their captain to reveal his future plans. Cometh the man of the moment and he announces that he's not gonna follow the easy path and retire today (which seems to be the perfect moment to do so), he's gonna wait and he's gonna see if he has one more in him and give in his everything to come back one last time next year for his fans, 'if his body allows'. In this moment, he gained/re-gained the entire nation's respect and many more followers, one more time. He says, it would be his way of saying 'thank you' to his fans for all the love & support that they have showered on him throughout the IPL 2023 and way before that. 

Nothing but respect for the man who backs his players no matter what. He gives his players the security to express themselves in the middle which in turn give themselves the freedom to do what they are really good at, with ease. And the last night was a perfect instance where this practice worked in CSK's favour. Be it CSK's 2 of the oldest soldiers, Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu, or the young lads Conway and Shivam Dube, played their roles with perfection to help secure their team a win. Not to mention, it all happened when their leader fell prey to the opponent's tactics at the most crucial time and couldn't finish the game for a change.  International and national players alike, be it Shane Watson, Faf Du Plesis, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Mathew Hayden and many more have at various occasions have admitted that MSD is the best captain they have played under, period. 

Flashback to the time when CSK couldn't make it to the playoffs of the IPL 2020, the nation was wondering why is Dhoni not calling it a day yet, some of them went too far ahead and had the audacity to comment that he has lost his sheen as a T20 batsman, some of us even shamelessly questioned his place in the team. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, there was a bunch of his supporters, the genuine clan, and obviously the CSK management who knew his value and stood by his side, who hoped soon enough the captain cool showcases a few glimpses of his part heroics and show us one more time he's always got one more in him. Fast forward to 2023 and 2 more IPL titles later, we all know the joke's on whom now.

Sincerely, 

A Dhoni Fan.

A Fairytale Unfolds for India at Tokyo Olympics 2020!!

 

The feat that the Indian athletes have achieved is nothing short of extraordinary and no amount of words could amplify the quantum of the hard work they had put in day in and day out to be the best of the lot. Every Indian should be filled with pride and take a moment to appreciate India's performance at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Each member of the Indian contingent belongs to the finest breed of individuals who overcame insurmountable odds, some went against their family's desires to pursue their dream of playing professional sport, some even had to fight the system to get a fair shot at representing India at the global stage.

They must have heard this phrase multiple times, 'the higher you climb, the steeper shall be the fall', they still made the climb, overseeing the challenges coming their way, one obstacle at a time. When their friends screamed 'party' their hearts silently whispered 'practice', and they slept off early that night and every other night, so that they don't miss the next day's early morning practice session. They won't even have a count of the number of times they would have said no to social gatherings.

"Why are you being so hard on yourself?", this question might have popped up in their head one too many times, but then they realized they didn't come this far only to come this far. And they continued chasing their dreams. They are the special breed who don't work out just for the fitness quotient, they rather grind at each and every practice session, so that when the D-day comes they are well prepared to outperform their opponents. If that's not an indicator of a strong character, I don't know what is!

There were a few instances which would be etched in our memories for a long long time. First and foremost, the never say die attitude of the women's hockey India team, losing their 1st 3 matches of the tournament, and then making a stunning comeback, going down in the history books as the 1st women's national team to play an Olympics semifinal match for a medal in which they played their hearts out against the Brits. Let's not forget, there were one too many instances when the girls showed us what its like fighting hard to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. Be it Savita Punia saving 8 out of 8 lethal penalty corners against the mighty Aussies in the QFs or Vanadana Kataria's hattrick against the Proteas to keep our QFs hopes alive or the sight of Brits consoling the Indians after a hard fought game for the bronze medal, every instance had a story of valor and courage to depict. Talk about the adage, 'Fall down 7 times, get up 8' and this tale of a bunch of extraordinary women would serve as a synonym for the same.

Moving forward, kudos to the Indian Men's Hockey team for securing a medal in the Olympics after 41 long years. Just like their counterparts, their story wasn't a smooth ride either but whenever an adversity arose, these champs responded with grit and determination and showed the world they are not the ones backing down from a fight. Scoring twice in the final 3 minutes of the game against Argentina was sheer class and so was that medal-assuring, match-saving, keeping-hopes-inatct save from our champion goalkeeper with a rock-solid experience of 21 years, PR Sreejesh in the last 6 seconds of the bronze medal game against the Germans. The men in blue once again helped us believe that its not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Talk about mastering your skill-set and the name of Ravi Kumar Dahiya serves as the perfect example. The one who stormed his way to the semis by winning back to back matches on 'Technical Superiority', ridiculing his opponents' hard work and determination within a matter of 6 minutes. Not only that, during the semifinal match, when he was down and out, the way he turned around the tides in his favor is just another level of crazy. Flipping the match result in your favor in the dying seconds of the match, after being 2-9 down in the game, executing a perfect 'pin-fall' on your opponent to book a slot in the finals, is a comeback story to be remembered for ages. Let's not forget, he's just 23 and this was his 1st appearance at the Olympic games.

The sight of our ace shuttler PV Sindhu, bowing down to the crowd in a namaste gesture after her every game showed us its does one no harm to remain humble when they win and accept their loss with grace. Time and again, she has served as a perfect example of class, honor, hard-work and all things nice.

On the other hand, we got to see the heroics of another wonder woman who goes by the name of Mirabai Chanu, her journey serves as a perfect example of sheer courage, determination and lots of heart. Her olympics journey was more clinical rather than dramatic or the one defying odds. She relied on grit and resolve and cruised towards victory in style. More power to you girl, the latest silver queen of India!

Ponder over 'Cometh the hour, cometh the woman' and moving forward, there would be the image of 23 year old Lovlina Borgohain popping up in our mind. When the big names from the boxing, shooting and archery contingent were getting outperformed by their opponents, Lovlina Borgohain silently sailed through the semis and ensured India's medal tally ticks forward. She played her like she always knew she had a few more punches left in her and she never backed down from a fight.

As they say, one should always save the best for the last and the last day of Olympics for the Indian contingent panned out be exactly the same. First, Bajrang Punia lived upto his expectation by securing a bronze and later what followed was the 23 years old army boy, Neeraj Chopra becoming the 1st Indian to secure a gold medal in Javelin throw and in the process secured the only gold for India at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

On a positive note, there were one too many occasions which made our hearts fill with pride. One couldn't be more proud of some of the extraordinary human beings like CA Bhawani Devi (Fencing), S.Reddy & C.Shetty (Badminton), Kamalpreet Kaur (Discus Throw), Anshu Malik (Wrestling), Aditi Ashok (Golf), Atanu Das (Archery), Fouaad Mirza & Seigneur Medicott (Equestrian) to name a few who played with their hearts on their sleeves. When the time came to show the world what they are made up of, every time they donned the Indian jersey, they played like there's a chip on their shoulder and in a perfect world, they would have settled for nothing but a W. They are the ones who succeeded in igniting hopes for us in games where the probability of securing a W in their respective category was bleak. Win or lose, these superheroes played their souls out and their performance is definitely a right step facilitating the transition from being known as the 'ones who also-participated' to being champion contenders.

Last but not the least, sport has the tendency to make one feel low when legends happen to miss out on a fairytale ending. Likewise, our hearts skipped a beat when the 8 time world champion and an Olympic medallist MC Mary Kom bowed out from the pre-quarters bout. Thank you for all the memories Mary Kom, we are the lucky ones to have gotten a chance to support you and watch you deliver lethal punches with precision and power.

If we could take home a lesson or two from India's performance at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the most prominent one would be the fact that if you truly back your instincts and you give in everything you have, then you can conquer your dreams and write yourself into folklore. Also, winning never comes to you easy, you have to prepare really hard to outsmart and outperform your opponent to claim that well deserved W.

Rio Olympics 2016 Round-up!!

The way the Indian athletes performed at the Rio Olympics assured that the future of sports is bright in the country. A huge shoutout to all the 119 athletes who formed the Indian contingent representing their nation at the most coveted sporting event of the world. Let's take a moment to applaud their valiant efforts and their fighting spirit. They defied insurmountable odds, sacrificed a lot of things, made the most of the limited sporting facilities with the hope that the tricolor flies high at Rio.

The fact that the most no. of 4th place finishes at Rio belongs to India shows us that sports can be really harsh sometimes. It all began by Indian Women archery team going down in tie-breaker against Russia after making a sheer comeback in the game followed by Indian flag bearer Abhinav Bindra missing the bronze by a dot. Vinesh Phogat's injury and the Indian men's hockey team going down against Germany in the final seconds of the match are some of the other instances which added to our miseries.

This shaky start was overshadowed by the heroics of Dipa Karmakar who risked her life to perform Produnova, the most lethal stunt of the game, thus becoming the first person to represent India in gymnastics at Olympics. The way she remained gracious in her defeat speaks volumes about her character. The world applauded her efforts and she won million hearts along with inspiring a whole generation on her own.

The silver lining struck for the Indian fans when we got to witness the performances of two players whose potential has always been underestimated due to the presence of better ranked players in their respective sport, they gave in their everything and fought hard to bag a medal each for India.

Sakshi Malik became the 1st Indian women to win an Olympic medal in wrestling, turning tides in her favor by overcoming a 0-5 deficit during the last 90 seconds of her bout and emerging victorious subsequently. On the other hand, PV Sindhu showed the world what she's made of by becoming the first and youngest Indian to win a silver medal in badminton. She succeeded in uniting a nation of more than a billion people and making us feel proud. To achieve this feat in the past it took a group of 11 men competing against Pakistan cricket team. More power to you PV Sindhu, the Silver Queen of India!!

It's great to see the matured nature of the Indian audience who appreciated Indian athletes' performance at Rio irrespective of the medal count and acknowledged the fact that it's not size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of fight in the dog!!

Dipa Karmakar being denied a physio for the games because the officials didn't feel the need to do so, the players sleeping on bean bags at the Olympics village due to the incompetence of the Indian officials, Indian chief medical officer at the Olympics, Pawandeep Tony Singh, a radiologist by profession knew nothing about sports medicine, his standard response to all the players in pain was to have a Combiflam, he also turns out to be the son of the Vice-president of the Indian Olympics Association was reported having a gala time at the games, hanging out by the pool , drinking from 3 pm thus, making the most of his Rio trip which has been financed by the hard earned money of Indian tax payers. It's a matter of shame for a country whose sports minister is warned of cancelling his accreditation due to his inability to follow the rules set by the organizing committee.

Such instances forms a tiny part of the humongous issues related to the Indian sporting scenario currently. How can we expect our athletes to defeat the best in the world when we are not being able to provide them with the basic amenities. Hopefully the officials have learned from their mistakes and open more avenues of development for our athletes. Hopefully Olympics 2021 is a different story and a better one!

Good guys do finish first afterall!

Not the result that we were hoping for, but a great game of cricket it was nonetheless!  

Such a mesmerizing sight it was to watch the top 2 teams fighting tooth and nail on the field, giving in their every iota of blood,  sweat and tears to clinch the coveted World Test Championship (WTC) title.  Simply put, New Zealand was the better team in this match and they deserve all the respect for the same. 

It was great to see the gentleman's game being played in its truest spirit.  There was no drama on the field,  no cuss words exchanged, no mind games at the press conferences, just good old-fashion competitive cricket, just like it used to be in the decade gone by and a few more before that. 

In my opinion, this would be one of theose rare  occasions when the Indian cricket team fans would be all praise for their opponents. Given their kind  nature and living up to their reputation of always playing a fair game, it would take an insane person to have a disliking towards the kiwis, isn't it? Sport does teaches you to respect your opponents and accept your defeat graciously and today is one such day to follow suit. 

Playing the WTC is an achievement in itself and every Indian fan should feel proud of the entire Indian squad who fought hard and graciously to bring the cup home.  Their efforts didn't go in vain, afterall, they were the chosen ones in a nation of 1.3 billion people. Each player a master in his respective skill, the best of the lot. 

As Mr. Harsha Bhogle once said, one should concentrate on the journey rather than the destination, take care of the process and the result would take care of itself. Having said, kudos to the Indian Cricket team management for taking care of the processes so well that now we are capable of sending two full fledged squads at two different locations for two separate series happening simultaneously. India's bench strength is already a force to reckon with and can give any team a run for their money on any given day.  

Being an ardent Indian fan,  it fills me with  nothing but pride that since the inception of the #WTC21 , the members of the team that I supported (still support) always bought their A-game whenever they took the field. More importantly, when their backs were against the wall, they never backed down from breaking down the god damn wall. And they were pretty good at it. 

Look forward to an exciting English summer ahead. Defeating the Englishmen on their home soil would be the stuff the dreams are made of. Hopefully our lads go out all guns blazing in each and every session of the 4 test match series. 

Last but not the least, a huge shout out for the kiwis. I was genuinely sad when they lost the 2019 WC finals, it was disheartening to see them go down from a formidable position that day. Today I am happy that they won the WTC finals.  They had to wait for 21 years to win an ICC event and this victory would definitely taste sweeter after such a long wait. The sight of how ecstatic they were when the winning runs were scored exuberated tons of positivity and happiness!

#INDvsNZ  #nzcricket #indiancricketteam  #BCCI  #WTCFinal