I know its too late to blog this,like 2 months after everything's over,but still I really wanted to.And here it goes!
I still remember.It was a hot,sunny afternoon way back in September 2010.Typical Delhi Weather,that was.One of my friend said,"Dude,you know the World Cup Starts on 19th Feb!" To which I replied,"Isn't that cool,3 days after your Birthday!" To be very honest,I did not know what World Cup it was.All I knew was that it was some Cricket World Cup being Hosted,rather Co-Hosted by Bangladesh,India and Sri Lanka.Yet,people said I was a Cricket Crazy Girl,Ofcourse I wasn't! Not after this.Not very Crazy.Come 17th February,2011.I was all excited as it was the Opening Ceremony Day! The Day when the much awaited ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was officially being declared open..But the excitement had to be controlled.Reason : I had exams starting the following day! I remember how I saw the Opening Ceremony Secretly,hiding in my room with the door close! And surprisingly,I ended up seeing more that half of the Ceremony without being Caught! What a Sport,I was! Come 19th February,2011.THE DAY,in literal Terms.Atleast for Indian and Bangladeshi Cricket Fans.Place : Mirpur,Bangladesh.It was pretty obvious that the mighty Indian Team would beat the Co-Hosting Bangla Tigers.Indeed,we did beat them,but not easily.The Bangla Tigers gave a tough fight,till the end.Then came the English Boys Place : Bangalore,India..Everyone in Both England and India knew it would be a good game.Reason : Both the teams were equally good and had their own good and bad points.I am sure for any Sachin Tendulkar Fan or maybe Sachin himself,that game will be one of the best ever.Why? Because Master Blaster hit a Century that day (Tough it wasn't good enough for India to win the game) But,the same day Andrew Strauss,the English Player hit a Century,just like Tendulkar.The result of that game was disappointing.The game ended in a tie with both India and England getting a point each.But one thing was there,more than India winning the game or England winning,it was Cricket who actually won.Two great Innings were displayed by two great Batsmen.The next destination for the Indian Team was Bangalore,again.This time it was minnows Ireland who were being faced.The Irish Team was fresh with the victory over England,surprisingly.I won't talk much about this game,would just say India Won,as expected.After facing Minnows Ireland,it was time for Minnow Party 2 : Netherlands.Place : New Delhi.It wasn't really an exciting game.Though it was for the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium Curators.The much over hyped stadium was hosting its first Team India Match after a year ban due to dangerous Pitch Conditions.Must say,the Pitch did fair well.The Curators has something more to celebrate about,more than India's win.One thing which I found Weird was thats Indian Skipper MS Dhoni said "Beating Netherlands wasn't easy." Omg! What kind of a Joke was THAT? Aah,then came Team South Africa.The Favourites.Place : Nagpur.That was the game which was going to decide who had an edge over whom.Everyone knew that the game was a Cracker.An interesting encounter.The Indian team,Batsmen mainly started off well with 160-0.Both Openers Sachin and Sehwag were on fire.But the something happened.The team lost track.After starting off so well,the team lost 7 wickets for some 30 runs! And put up a small total of 297 for the South African Chokers.As the name suggest,the South African Chokers did choke.But what mattered most was the result.The SAFs Won.It was almost like India gifting the game to the SAFs! But let me tell you,that game was the only disappointment of the tournament.Sunday,March 20,2011.It was Holi Day.More than Holi Day,it was Team India's last chance to book a place in the QF's.But the task wasn't simple.They were the Windes.The West Indies.The game wasn't as interesting as it sounded in the past.India packed up the Windies quick and got themselves a QF Berth.Even Windies did.With this ended Team India's League Stage.The latter half of the tournament was going to be tough.They were the Knockout Stages.You win,you go ahead.You lose,you're out of it! India vs Four Time Champions Australia,that was.Place : Motera.It was amazing.India Beat Australia,knocked them out of the race and were all set to face arch-rivals Pakistan! The World Cup was at its best,in terms of entertainment! 30th April 2011.Place : Mohali.Match : India vs Pakistan."Am I dreaming? Is this my imagination?", I asked myself.Yes,It was happening.India were facing Pakistan.It was not a game.Not just.We had national pride on Stake.Fans from Cross the Border came in to cheer for their teams.The Indian Batsmen put up a decent total for the tough-on-paper Pakistani team.But the Pakistani Team made a mess of it.Courtesy : Indian Bowlers.Having lost their openers quick,the task was in the hands of the Pakistani Middle order.By the time the middle order understood India's game,It was too late.India won."So was it Motera,Mohali,Mumbai?" I still Ask myself.Maybe Yes.India were set to face Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.The ICC Cricket World Cup changed into the Asia Cup,literally.Both India and Sri Lanka had two things in common.1 : Both the teams had won the cup once and had made it to the finals once before but ended up being the losing side.2 : Two Great Legends,Sachin and Murlidharan were playing their Last World Cup Games.I won't talk much on Sri Lanka's Batting.They did put up a decent total for India.The Shock came in when Both Sachin and Sehwag were bowled over by Slinga Malinga! India lost hopes.Sri Lanka were high in spirits.But who knew,that the game wasn't over yet.Then came in Super Heros (for that game atleast) Gambhir and Dhoni to the rescue! They did it for India.Both scored two massive 90+ Totals in such a crucial game! "We did It! They Did It" I said to myself.
It was hard to believe.I couldn't believe the fact that I saw my country do it.Yes,they did it,Indeed.I know I shall forever keep those memories with me,no matter what happens.They'll be as fresh as ever! With this World Cup,I understood two things : Cricket is Indeed a Crazy Game and Team Aise hi Nahi Jeeti....Jeetana Padta Hain......!
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