World cup Cricket: The Emotion is Back

TechnoparkToday.com>> After a hiatus of 4 long years the ICC Cricket World Cup is back.  Personally I am not a cricket person anymore though I have my stock of some very vivid memories of watching World Cup matches in 90s. I still remember crying seeing Vinod Kambli breaking down during the 1996 World Cup Semi final match against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata when Men in Blue were crashed out after reaching so close. It was a pretty emotional blow for the nation of ours where Cricket is a way of life. Anybody who has had their childhood in 1990s would remember that very iconic match of tears and despairs.

Fast forward to 2003 ICC World cup, when I was a teenager with a new found crush on a certain Mr Brett Lee. (Man! That season belonged to him!! Girls Don’t you agree??) Another emotional world cup which saw an exemplary performance by the Indian Squad. Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and many others in their full glory. I still get Goosebumps thinking of that India-Pakistan match where Shohaib Akthar’s 160 km/hr ball deliveries were smacked across the stadium by Sachin. It was a pure delight to watch the God bleeding blue that day. A very hopeful world Cup where we all expected a 1983 Repeat but sigh! A 90s kid was disappointed again. Damn the Ausies!

So by the end of 2007 World Cup and a few more years later, me a final year engineering student was nomore a cricketing fan. Crush on Brett Lee was crushed by then. This Gentleman’s game nomore appealed thanks to India’s debacles in the past but still I used to catch up bits and pieces in our hostel TV whenever matches aired during the 2011 World Cup.  The 90’s kid in me still hoped for a miracle. The privilege that solely belonged to the 80s generation who proudly boasted; “We were alive when India won the world Cup 1983”.

So 03-April-2011, the history repeated, Dhoni’s men did the impossible, a sweet revenge from Sri Lanka and there you go! Prayers of 100 Crore people of India were finally answered. Yes we won the World Cup. That phenomenal moment’s memory is still engraved in our hearts.

See this is what Cricket is for our country. For the myriad of fans across this nation, Cricket is more than a sport. It is the only force that transcends religion, caste, politics, language, gender and economic status. Cricket is, of course, about the players and the game itself; but in India it is about the fans, about their prayers, about their hero worships and about their sheer belief on those 11 men who have gone all the way to Australia to retain that Cup won in 2011.

Yes #WeWontGiveItBack