Pause & Bookmark: The Men in Blue Bring It Home!

YAAAAAAAY! India won the Cricket World Cup after more than 20 years. I am truly happy! It was a wonderful moment, when every Indian on the planet felt one with their Indian counterparts, regardless of the religion, state, caste or social status they belonged to!

Let me stop the gushing to tell you that you would never have heard me rave about cricket ever before on my blog, and, I solemnly promise you that you will never again hear another word about cricket in the future! I am no cricket fan...when it's IPL time, I flee a mile away from the general vicinity of the television and my cricket-maniac husband. I still hold on to those ideals. As a matter of principle, I never watch cricket, because here I am slaving over a desk all day, and coming home and slaving over a stove, and some boy-man hitting a ball around gets paid a gazillion times more than me!! I take exception to that. And what do we get sitting in front of a television watching said boy-men romping around? NOTHING! Those are just my views, and you are free to disagree - in fact, please do disagree. That's what a free country is all about. Anyway, point is, I "dislike" cricket, to put it ever so lightly.

BUT, c'mon winning the WORLD CUP is a whole new deal altogether!! I actually invested a good 3-4 hours of my weekend on Saturday night, sitting and watching the latter half of the match. All because I truly began to admire the grit and determination of our boys out there on the field. I have developed a sense of deep respect for MS Dhoni, captain of the Indian cricket team. The way he carried himself throughout the game was simply awe-inspiring. Even after he hit the winning sixer, his obvious happiness was so understated and so balanced that you had to admire his maturity and his ability to keep his head, no matter how low the 'downs' or high the 'ups'! He let Sachin take center stage during the celebrations and he walked a good two-paces behind, just enjoying watching his team mates celebrate. The whole country is cheering for this man who has led the Indian cricket team to so many victories in such a short time. I think he is truly an inspiration to the youth of our nation!

And then there was the game itself. Though I wasn't exactly gnawing my way through my nails in anticipation, it was an exciting game, all said and done! The moment when Sachin got out was a real shock. Even the celebrities in the stadium lost their photogenic smiles when Sachin walked off the pitch. I think that was the one time I saw Rajnikanth actually look defeated!! :) I also felt really sorry for Gautam Gambhir, after he failed to hit a century. The look on his face when he walked back the stands, was nothing short of heart-breaking... :(

But the fact that Dhoni and Yuvraj were able to bring the team back to pace, and win the game for us was really thrilling! At the end of the game, when Dhoni hit that fabulous sixer, my husband had just one thing to say, "Now Sachin can retire in peace!" And I had to agree. It was so moving, how the entire team was playing for just one man! One man who had inspired them, made India the force to reckon with in cricket, and took so many risks for his team! What Virat Kohli said about Sachin was amazing! After he had walked around the whole ground carrying Sachin on his shoulders, he was asked why he had done that. His response: "Sachin has carried the burden of the country on his shoulders for 28 years. So, I don't mind carrying him on my shoulders!" Awwww! that is so adorable! :)

So, there it is - India won the CRICKET WORLD CUP! I think we will be riding this wave for a long, long, long time! And hey, I don't even feel furious that these guys are getting a crore each!But, it stops there. IPL is next week, and you won't hear a word about it from me..NO SIR!