Why

Why

Saturday 2 April 2011

In Memory of My Mom, Wife and the World Cup

Two people whom I am missing at the moment are my wife and my mom. Mom is the one whom I would to credit for my liking towards cricket. And to my wife, all I would like to say is: Honey, Here’s our wedding gift. I am in a hotel room while she is away in another continent, but tonight comes across as a night to remember for both of us along with all the Indian fans. I have heard my mom telling a lot of cricket stories while growing up and now I keep telling or writing my girl friend/wife a lot about cricket.

Coming back to the moment when M S Dhoni hit the winning runs with a massive six over long-on, all I did was; stare at the TV screen. No one around to hug or shout and India winning was something I knew would happen, so it wasn’t a surprise.
Few minutes later seeing all the players running on to the field, tears of joy started, a smile and the moment I was waiting all these years finally came through. Like I said, it wasn’t a surprise after watching India pull off a stunning win against Australia in Ahemadabad. In a way it completes a full circle to me personally with this Indian victory. The journey of watching cricket started with 1992 and if I go back in time, I vividly remember waking up each day to watch cricket. The past 45 days have been really special to me; watching Tendulkar score a hundred, a tied match, few days later tying knot to my girl friend, watching India win a match with my wife and now India winning the cup.

I managed to speak to both my mom and my wife. Three weeks after India won the World Cup in 1983; our parents got married. And three weeks after my wedding India wins again. Mom always used to tell me about India’s win over West Indies when I was a kid and in fact when she called me right after India winning the cup, she in her exciting voice shared her 1983 memories and also told me the prayers she did today for India to win the cup.

Coming back to the man who was instrumental in today’s match when it mattered, MS Dhoni. He showed why a World Cup final is a platform for champions to shine. Looking back at other World Cups in the past, either captains or players who have captained always had a big role to play. Now Dhoni has everything; he won the T20 World Cup on the evening of 24th September 2007, #1 ranking in Tests, #1 in ODI’s, Winning IPL, and Champions League prior to this night’s triumph. One common factor surprisingly is the feature of tied matches – each and every major competition Dhoni has won, it involved a tie at some point in time.

To end this celebration, I would like to salute the man who continues to inspire me in my personal life till this day. In a way it is fitting that he won the World Cup in front of his home crowd, in a World Cup whose finals were in India and more importantly he won it as a part of a team and not as an individual. I remember his interview six years ago when he mentioned his ambitions in cricket – To be part of #1 Test team and World Cup winning team. Well he can be proud of himself for having achieved both of them. What lies ahead of him is best left to him.

I am a bit tired but would like to say one thing – Team India you did it.

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