In 1983, Kapil Dev achieved it. In 2003 Sourav Ganguly gave it near miss. In 2011, Mahendra Singh Dhoni achieved it again. Now Team India is World Champions of Cricket and its a great gift to the 1.2 billion people. All the prayers and wishes heard by God and he gifted Indians with most precious gift and that is World Cup. It will remain in memory of the people for long time because it happened after the wait of 28 long years. On 25th June, 1983 I was too young to understand the cricket and World Cup but as I grew up I understood that achievement and now 2nd April 2011, I experienced that thrill and joy which I missed in 1983. It was mighty West Indies in 1983 which tasted defeat and Sri Lanka in 2011 lost to Team India.
It is a cup of billion hopes and it will impact the psyche of the people of this country. The country which is going through tough phase where corrupt politicians and their policies haunting the public. I believe World Cup victory certainly brought smile on the faces.We must thank our heroes who made it possible for us after 28 years. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of Team India did few mistakes in initial stages of the tournament. He was out of form and faced lot of criticism for his decisions but I must say 'Cometh the hour, Cometh the man'. Since quarter-finals he did not falter for a single moment. He learnt from his mistakes which he committed in league phase and corrected them in the knockout phase. He played crucial innings in finals and lead his team to the glory after failing with bat in entire tournament. It looked like he saved his best for this game and delivered when it needed the most. He is a leader and perfect role model for new generation. He showed the courage to admit his mistakes and he also did not forget to mention the contribution of his seniors in this victory when he gave credit to Dravid, Kumble and Ganguly for this victory. I think he is not Captain he is a Leader.
Next comes our very own 'GOD' Sachin Tendulkar who was the inspiration and instrumental in this victory. After playing sixth World Cup he achieved what he wanted to, which show his immense patience. He waited for 22 long years and worked hard without getting disheartened from the losses in earlier World Cups and had the belief that he will achieve it before his retirement. It is this belief and hard work which has given him the status of 'GOD' in this country. He is inspiration for this entire team and every member of this team motivated to do it for Sachin Tendulkar. Great example of motivation and self-belief indeed. Finally 'GOD' achieved what he wanted to and its great and most important news that 'GOD' will continue to play cricket even after World Cup victory and I hope he never retire. At the age of 38 he is playing like never before and it looks like we will watch him in action in next World Cup as well.
Yuvraj Singh, gone through tough phase, dropped from the test side, future as a cricketer looked bleak, struggled with various injuries and thought of quitting cricket as well but I think whatever happened with Yuvraj was just a lesson to him from the destiny because he got everything easily before this bad phase but last one year changed him completely as a player and turned him into match-winner for Team India when it mattered the most. This also shows how bad time makes people tougher and invincible. So bad time also have its advantages and it certainly does wonders and it is proved from the Yuvraj's life. He is declared 'Man of the Tournament'. Now I hope he returns to the test cricket as well and do wonders in longer format as well. He is one player who got the new lease of life in this World Cup and came out much improved cricketer as it also added another dimension to his skills and that is his much improved bowling. he was gifted with immense of talent and but that was not channelized. This World World Cup did that.
Apart from these 3 people there 12 people who played good supporting role and they were as important as these 3 players were. Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Nehra, Munaf, Chawla, Sreesanth, Virat Kohli, R.Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina, all contributed towards this huge success and according to me they were unsung heroes of this World Cup. Each of them delivered when it mattered and they kept the interest of team above everything. Hats-off to them for providing such a glory to this great country called 'INDIA'. Apart from players, coach Gary Kirsten and his support team did wonders from behind the curtains and their contribution to this victory is cannot be measured by materialistic things. Its pity that Kirsten is leaving Team India after this glory but I think he has given new heights to this Indian team and if possible, keep him with this team.
Now, Dhoni's match winning sixer will also be remembered along with Kapil Dev catching Vivian Richards in 1983 World Cup. India needed this victory badly and it will give birth to hew hopes and aspirations. This victory also established the fact that India is driving force in World Cricket and World Cricket and ICC is nothing without India. Let's hope our team keeps winning and bring lot more glory to us. It is 'Cup of Hope' because people who made it possible, most of them came from the places which are very difficult to find in the map of this country.
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