Monday, August 22, 2011

Freedom at Last!! - a tyrst with destiny

After the stroke of the cricket bat, when the last ball is bowled and England rejoice, ‘Team India’ will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, a test series ends, and the soul of a cricket team, long demolished, finds utterance in T20’s and ODI’s. It is befitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to 'Team India' and the still larger cause defined by BCCI.

Today as we move beyond the evil whites we celebrate our liberation from the Poms who invited us for a test series, promising an enthralling contest and a respectful summer befitting us - the World Champions. Instead, hour after hour, session after session, day after day we were treated with an array of in-courteous bowlers, determined to annihilate their unsuspecting guests and followed by a pack of run-hungry batsmen who made our fine young men toil in the field match after match as they feasted on our depleted resources – no remorse no act of mercy shown.

Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now. The event we celebrate today is but a step, an escape to the greater world of coloured clothes, batsman friendly pitches and limited fielding hours. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?

That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. It means the ending of run-droughts, wicketless overs and embarrassing press conferences.

The ambition of one of the greatest batsman of our generation has been to play every ball to its merit and wipe out the run deficit from every innings. That may be beyond us now but so long as there is swing and pace, our work will not be over.

And so ‘Team India’ has to labor and to work, and work hard, to give reality to the dreams, dreams of those who tweet and blog, of those who log on to cricinfo through proxy servers and of those who remain glued to their tv sets in far away lands. Victory has been said to be indivisible, so is hope now - as proved by those who after each humiliating day returned back expecting a free flow of runs like days of yore, who waited for long partnerships, inspiring bowling spells and finally – for Rains.

To the fans of Indian cricket, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of ‘Team India’ where all followers may dwell.

(Written on the penultimate day of the much hyped India - Eng test series. Eng lead 3-0 and 4-0 is the most expected result tomorrow)

4 comments:

tenalirama said...

I am such a big fan of your writing

jas said...

although I generally find cricket boring, this article was anything but.

NehaPathak said...

Absolutely delightful read...how do we make it reach more people..just three comments on such a brilliant post does not seem fair...watcha say...time to bring in Nikhil...??

Unknown said...

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