It goes without saying that it was a brilliant victory today. God! How much every single person wishes to be an Indian right now. Through and through, cricket has been our religion no matter what. Babies are born chanting Tendulkar's name, money poured into the temples to pray for India's win, Latha Mangeshkar fasts for two days and all the blue boys' life size photos are worshiped with garlands.
There is not a single soul that has gone unaffected by this "fever" as they call it. Bleeding blue, cheering team India, declaring holidays, shutting down offices and schools, postponing tests..there is nothing that this nation has not done to support their favourite boys.
But of course, we are Indians and we are known for our fickle minds. Siddhu, the obnoxiously expressive former cricketer, showed his disappointment with the changes that Dhoni made during the last two matches, without any hesitation. He was upset and angered even by the decision to bring Nehra instead of Ashwin on Wednesday, and Sreeshanth instead of Nehra today. However, he was the first to praise and applaud this decision once it turned out to be in favour of his home team. "Every Indian must stand up and sing 'Sare Jaha Se Acha' " he said, when India lifted that trophy after twenty-eight years. He even gave the team a standing ovation and finally poor Bhogle had to silence him and calm him down.
Every Indian is similar to Siddhu in this manner. We are proud when our team wins and almost disgusted when they lose. Though not a great fan of cricket, I can safely say that the past few years and especially the last world cup, have been tough for our team. They underwent many controversies, losses and of course a lack of discipline as displayed by Harbhajan and Sreeshanth.
There was a time when people almost despised the Indian team. Much was said and written about how as a race we are rude and uncouth. There were many loyal fans who stuck to supporting their favourite team in spite of its rough times, but most of us, including myself, took the easy way and blamed the team for being "out of form" and "insensible".
People no longer had patience for a fifty-over match and hence introduced the twenty-twenty trend. The IPL, ICC Championships and the endless tri-series resulted in an overdose of cricket for everyone, including the ones who breathe and live the game.
This tournament, surprisingly, got everyone's spirits high. People who never watched a cricket match in their lives began keeping regular scores and even the match sats! Cheering and clapping resonated from every household and not to mention, the firecrackers on each street. And the fact that I know and remember so many facts about the game, just proves that cricket in India has an unconscious effect on us.
Many people often debate that India is not a nation because there is nothing that unites us- not language, not history and not religion or ethnicity. But today, and for the years to come, the one thing that unites us all and makes us proud to say we are Indian, is cricket. There is no bigger phenomenon in this nation that has an impact of such intensity. When we are good, we are beyond control. Nothing stops us from wearing our proud patriotic faces and saying - Yeah, I am an Indian.
