Half a world away in the West Indies, it was finally time for an ICC trophy for India after 11 long years, and a T20 World Cup title after 17. It has been a long, frustrating, and at times heartbreaking wait that seemed to get longer and longer, putting a billion dreams on hold, repeatedly, as the team failed to deliver at crucial moments. (More Cricket News|Full Coverage)
But it was worth it in the end. Everyone knew it would come one day and it finally has. There were moist eyes all around. Success after the bottled up grief of repeated failure in spite of trying your heart out, can do that to tough, grown, successful men.
All of them were that and more, super rich, super famous superstars, who’s every move, every word is followed by an entire nation of 1.4 billion people.
And yet, they had not won an ICC Trophy in the last 11 years and a billion hearts carried that disappointment and hurt. Most of all it remained in the hearts of the players, who gave their best every time.
It was heartbreaking for them.
Every time they fell short, people called them chokers and mercenaries who just didn’t have what it takes to win on the biggest stages.
Post-Covid, they had lost two World Test Championship Finals, lost badly at two T20 World Cups and an ODI World Cup final, in a tournament where they had looked invincible right through.
All that was bottled up inside them and it looked as if history would repeat itself again for India in this final against the Proteas, who were battling some of their own demons from the past.
With 30 needed from 30 deliveries after a succession of South African batters had gone on the rampage against the much vaunted Indian attack, it needed just one final push to get over the line.
I was on a WhatsApp chat with a friend in South Africa at the time and he said “We are winning this.”
And he had every right to think so. The South African batting that had been such a concern throughout the tournament had finally come good when it mattered most - in the final!
India needed dot balls, and even more, they needed a wicket. The captain turned to the only choice that he had under the circumstances, in a final throw of the dice. The one man who always delivered, even in the most tense situations.
And like so many times before, he did not disappoint. He went wide of the stumps and brought one in sharply giving Marco Jansen no chance as it went through his bat and pad and knocked the leg stump out of the ground.
That set India back on the road to victory, a road that the Proteas seemed to own at that point of time, and made them believe again.
After nearly a month of gripping cricket in two different countries, it had all come down to mental strength and execution of capabilities under pressure at key moments.
Shoulders dropped as David Miller launched into a low full toss from Hardik Pandya. However, Suryakumar Yadav plucked a high, swirling ball literally from across the rope in an unbelievable show of determination and presence of mind, making one of best ever catches of all time in a T20 World Cup final under extreme pressure.
The now-controversial catch that was the actual championship winning moment.
With Miller gone, South Africa were never going to make it in the tense last over. Having batted so well right through the innings they had lost crucial wickets just when they looked home and dry.
And Hardik Pandya, much maligned in recent months, held his nerve and took India over the line, after 11 agonising years, capping a fantastic bowling performance by the quicks at the death, on a day when the spinners went for runs.
A wait of 17 years for a T20 World Cup title again after 2007, a format that India have seemingly made their own with the mega success of the IPL, had finally come to an end.
In a format traditionally dominated by batters it was a fitting tribute to India’ s bowling excellence that Jasprit Bumrah won the Player of the Tournament award. He who always produced moments of magic whenever the captain threw him the ball at crucial times.
Although, to be fair to the batters, it had been a tournament largely characterised by dodgy wickets favouring bowlers,in both countries.
But it made for some interesting matches and even 110 was a tricky target to chase.
Perhaps for future editions, the BCCI could think of outsourcing a few IPL curators to grounds around the world for ICC tournaments!
As the significance of the moment dawned on the players, the dam burst and all the bottled up emotions, all the frustration and heartbreak of recent years came right up to the surface, as Hardik Pandya sank to the ground and dissolved in tears.
And there were tears all around. Tough men, who wouldn’t give an inch, wore their hearts on their sleeves and cried openly. Apart from Hardik, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as he announced his retirement from T20 World Cups,the gallant South African team who had fervently believed that they would break their own jinx at ICC Tournaments this time, broke down in tears.
Rohit Sharma who has played every single T20 World Cup from 2007 onwards came up and planted a kiss on the emotional Hardik and embraced fellow warrior Virat Kohli in what was surely an India T20 farewell for both men. And for Rahul Dravid, his last day as coach of the Indian team ended in a blaze of glory.
And it proved that our players were not the mechanical mercenaries that they have so often been made out to be in the recent past.
As the images of the jubilant India team standing behind the “Champions” board went round the world, it was perhaps a moment to look into the future, in the post Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid era, at least in T20s. And acknowledge gratefully, the bold new talent waiting in the wings, to take over from these stalwarts and carry their glittering legacy forward.
And to welcome the return of Rishabh Pant to international cricket from a career threatening road accident.
Not many have come back successfully from such adversity.
Somewhere down the line, this 11-year long wait will do Indian cricket a world of good in terms of the mental strength and attitudes that would drive it henceforth, going forward.
The talent and the dominance has always been there, and now that the jinx is finally broken, it is perhaps, time to add more ICC silverware to the trophy cabinet at the BCCI Cricket Centre at the Wankhede Stadium.
Like the 1983 World Cup victory, this World Cup could well mark a new beginning, and a memorable period of cricketing dominance for India.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author. The author is a veteran Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force, who has played Ranji Trophy for Services.
