Now,18th September 2012 was the day, at least 12 countries of the world if not all, were geared up to uplift the spirit of the Eleven Men who were shouldered with responsibility of proving their country’s dominance through their performances. More than a billion people had their eyes glued to T.V sets (thanks to India, the other countries did not quite require to contribute to this number) with their hearts throbbing and fingers crossed. TRP’s of the broadcasting channels were at its peak. West Indies, India, Pakistan and England(by the virtue of their no.1 ranking) were the Hot favorites for the title with the likes of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka (the Hosts) expected to give them a tough fight. The other minnows in the fray were Afghanistan, Ireland, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
As the drama unfolded the weren’t many surprises except for the fact that the Caribbean boys, who were considered as one of the major title contenders not winning even one of their league matches. Of course the nature is to be blamed! While they lost their 1st match against the Oz by D/L method, the 2nd match against Ireland was washed out . But thanks to their better run rate as compared to the Irish men, they still managed to qualify. The leaders of each group India, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan were pitted against each in one group and the runners-up Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England were put in the other. Surprisingly, the title contenders started loosing out their grounds and the the other teams capitalized at this point. Australia were in a red hot form beating both India and South Africa by huge margins.
And Sri Lanka on the other hand had won all their league games. Call it home advantage or whatever you like, but the fact is that they did win and deservedly so were the 1st team to qualify for the semis. West Indies followed them. On the other side, Pakistan followed the ritual of losing to India in every single World Cup match(which started way back in 1992). India,after defeating their neighbors, were expected to qualify alongside the Kangaroos who were in a commanding position. India just had to defeat the eternal chokers….yes i’m talking about the Africans(no point for guessing) and expect that Pakistan were handed a defeat by the Oz, which was well expected. But out of the blue, Pakistan shockingly defeated the Aussies which meant, now India not only had to defeat South Africa but do it a convincing manner. India did manage to do it but only by a single run . As a result, more than a billions of hearts broke and India crashed out. Pakistan and Australia qualified.
Amongst all these, one could have a little sympathy for as they lost two of their league matches through a Super Over (a tie-breaker in cricket). After all…”Yeh T20 hain boss, Na Tamiz se khela jaata hai, Na Tamiz se dekha jaata hai!!!”(i hope Pepsi doesn’t sue me for this).
So it was Pakistan against the host(Lanka) and Oz vs the Indies. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan to cruise to the final .The Pakistanis were not happy with it(who would be). But rather than reflecting on their mistakes they chose to blame the pitch curator, accusing him of preparing a pitch which would suit their style of play. I think, here they got it little wrong because both the Pakistanis and Lankans play a spin based attack. So, as obvious no one paid a heed to their accusations. But what was most interesting was, that the Aussies, who were in a red hot form were CRUSHED by the West Indians in the other semi-final and they set-up a summit clash with the host.
I think the best was saved for the last. What a Final it was!!! Though the Caribbean boys were considered as Hot Favorites but no one could write off Sri Lanka as they had the home advantage. West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first. But to every one’s disbelief their much hyped batting order failed…a big time. Except for one Marlon Samuels, who played a brilliant knock to take them to little bit respectable score of 137 and Sri Lanka were expected to achieve it without any problem with the home support they recieved. This wasn’t at all a desired target in T20, that too in the finals. But fate had had something else stored for them. The West Indies put into a brilliant bowling effort to bundle out the Lankans for a mere score of 101. And the wait ended. The Cup was theirs to be taken after a long gap of 33 years. They had roped in a brave performance and given their country men something to cheer for, or rather be proud of!!!
And yes, not to forget the “GANGNAM” style which became so popular. All thank to MR. CHRIS GAYLE, who would perform it in a funny manner whenever the team won or a ball would go flying over the ropes!
Thus it is rightly said “Fortune favors the BRAVE”.
