From "The Indian cricket team" to "Team India" !!

    There are 7 major dates which come to mind whenever I think of Indian cricket. These are just my favorite moments or the ones which impacted me and I believe Indian cricket the most.

June 25, 1983 –

    With odds of around 66:1 before the start of the world cup, India were the ultimate underdogs in the third edition of the worldcup. Kapil Dev lifted the worldcup in Lords, the home of cricket, to ground the mighty West Indies, who have not yet recovered from that. It was the day when a nation arouse from its slumber to embrace a sport which was considered as “goron walon ka khel” until then.

February 26, 2000 –

    Sourav Ganguly is named captain of the Indian team for the five-ODI home series against South Africa. India wins series 3-2. The appointment of Dada as captain was one of the biggest moments in Indian cricket. He turned around the fortunes of a team, which was reeling with senior-junior divide, had talented but directionless younsters, was too passive to look eye-to-eye with a opponent when sledged, was a mediocre team with a few outstanding players and had no team spirit. He brought about the change in half a decade instilling confidence in young stars and showing the team that matches are not won by individuals alone. It is under him that the team learnt to fear no opponent nor their bouncy tracks and most important of all, It is under him that India learnt the art of winning overseas.

April 7, 2000 –

    The day when match fixing allegations rocked cricket. Delhi police revealed that they had a recording of a conversation between Cronje and Sanjay Chawla, a bookie and what followed was opening of a closet filled with skeletons. Saleem Malik, Ata-ur-Rehman (both Pak), Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Sharma, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Jadeja(Indians), Hansie Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, Pieter Strydom and Nicky Boje  (South Africans) were named. This almost led the cricket into a coma, but still knowing that the majority of the cricket stars were still clean, proved to be the medicine at the right time. I just cannot envisage the situation if Sachin was brought into the scandal. That would have killed cricket in India. Thankfully the clean cricketers saved the day and the sport lived to see another day.

March 15, 2001 –

    India v Australia at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. 1-0 down in the seris and to add to that, following-on after trailing by 274 in first innings of the second test, India went on to win by 171 runs with one of the best all time performances by a cricket team to beat the number one test team in the world, who were on an 16 match winning streak in Tests, with VVS laxman smashing 281, “The Wall” Dravid accumulating 180 and Bajji picking up 13 wickets which also included a hatrick. This was the point when the team announced itself to the world. It was the start of the golden age for Indian cricket. We finally went on to beat the Aussies 2-1 after being 1-0 down in the series.

September 14, 2007 –

    Winning several series overseas, but nothing big to show-off. We were what the Dutch was in football. Captain cool (some call him captain lucky stars.. :P) MS Dhoni lifted the inaugural T20 world cup in Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa by beating Pakistan by 5 runs in a thrilling finale which almost led to several heart attacks around India… 😛 This turned around the Indian adminstrators attitude towards T20, leading to the start of the glamorous IPL the next year.

December 06, 2009 –

    India becomes number 1 Test team for the first time by beating SriLanka in Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium and winning the 3 match test series 2-0. This was just a report card at the end of the year for what the team had achieved in a decade.

April 2, 2011 –

    The joy in the world increased by 20% on this day… Thats exactly the Indian population around the world… 🙂 Dhoni lifting the 10th edition of the worldcup by beating Srilanka at the Wankede, Mumbai after scripting memorable victories under the most extreme pressure situations against the now-not-so-mighty Aussies and a corner-me-and-i-fight-back Pakistan. A fairytale script fit for a Yash raj movie. The dream of a billion to lift the trophy after 28 years with a grandmaster in the final stages of the most outstanding career possible in cricketing terms. 

    It was not won on a single day. This journey began exactly 10 years go in Kolkotta under Sourav Ganguly and the team has reached the pinnacle under Dhoni in Mumbai. Due credit must be given to the coaches with John Wright starting the building of a dream, Greg Chappel derailing it & causing a nightmare and finally Gary Kristen accomplishing what they set out to achieve 10 years ago.

    This team has moved from the Passiveness of Sunny Gavaskar to the Passive-aggression of Sachin Tendulkar to the Devastating-aggression of Virender Sehwag. It plays along with the mood of the Indians accross the globe. A billion people have a belief and get a sense of achievement for what these 11 players do on a cricket ground. We have finally witnessed the change from “The Indian team” to “Team India” … 🙂