India vs Pakistan- Epicness Personified

A billion and a half souls await this contest eagerly. It’s not a cricket game any more. It’s something more than that. It’s a holy war. It’s a mental and emotional battle. People in each and every household leave everything and stick to the TV screens, praying for their team. It’s as if with the players, we are also present on the field and fighting it out. While penning down this piece, the euphoria going through my mind is unexplainable. This match has taken me 5 years back, where both these teams clashed against each other in the inaugural T20 WC final. That win was one of the mesmerizing moments of any Indian’s life. So today after a huge triumph, it’s party time for Indians irrespective of the fact that India has still chances of getting ousted from the tournament. Even I had my part of celebration with some of my cricket-crazy friends. And the fact that this match continues India’s winning streak against Pakistan in World Cup, makes this victory all the more sweet. From the excitement before the toss, slight disappointment after, relief after hearing the announcement of inclusion of Sehwag and Balaji, watching the Pakistani batting lineup being shattered into pieces delightfully, seeing Gambhir go away in despair, witnessing Kohli’s superb stroke play all around the field, and the winning moment when all the Indians jumped in elation, when Yuvraj hit the final runs; today each moment carried different emotions and sentiments with it. Cricket is a religion to Indians, and players are considered demi-gods. But after today, Virat Kohli is no less than a God to holy Indians.

Let’s talk about the show-stealers. Undoubtedly, Virat Kohli tops the list. He has been at peak of his form this season, and today’s innings was a glimpse of that. Yuvraj Singh fulfilled his role both from the bat and ball taking 2 wickets and hanging out there with Kohli to finish off the game. Balaji also bowled really well, and finished things in style by consuming 2 Pakistani wickets in 2 consecutive balls. Irfan Pathan gave India an early breakthrough, with a wicket in the 2^nd over but conceded lot of runs in the following overs. Ashwin as usual lead the spin department took 2 wickets and maintained an economy of 4. Dhoni’s presence of mind of shuffling the bowlers in a way that Pakistanis didn’t get time to settle must have silenced quite a few critics.

The Pakistanis did not play up to their mark. Their fielding totally lacked flexibility, as players dropped 2-3 important catches. The batsmen also could not hold the crease for a long time. Shoab Malik tried but couldn’t do much against India’s effective bowling and attacking fielding. The Pakistanis had lost half their hopes when they could add up only 128 runs which are easily achievable in T20 cricket. Gambhir’s wicket enlightened their hopes. But Sehwag and Kohli’s partnership thrashed their remaining hopes. So even when Sehwag left, they knew that match was almost out of their hands. In the end, Kohli and Yuvraj ended the match in 17 overs.

In all it was a great challenging meet, and I hope rivalry between all the players remains on-field. I am waiting for the day 3 months later, when I will be reliving this madness again and that too in my home city of Ahmedabad.