The first time i heard this phrase was during the telecast of the Champions Trophy in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2000 when a young Yuvraj Singh ran out Micheal Bevan with a direct hit. . .
Since then it has been used many times by commentators.. Most notably during the famous Natwest triumph series in 2004 in England and in the epic Twenty-20 win in South Africa in 2007.
You can look at the Twenty-20 World Cup win in two ways.
One, that it lead to the resurgence of a long haired wicketkeeper from Ranchi to almost an iconic status in Indian Cricket, it was our first win on an international stage with all teams competing since 1983 and it redefined the way cricket was seen and telecast.
The other way of looking at it is fraught with danger. It resulted in a big chasm in the team, the juniors and seniors separated by the Big Divide, the final was a fluke win ( thanks to that unexplainable shot by Misbah) and that the same long haired wicketkeeper from Ranchi whose test place was in doubt, now had a dictator like grip on team selection.
I subscribed to this second view until today.
Things reached a boiling point in my head when Dravid and Ganguly were dropped for the ODI series in Australia. I could not understand, how we were planning for the 2011 World Cup now, a good 3 years away. In the process you were dismissing Dravid and Ganguly, who between them have won more ODI matches for India than the peerless Sachin Tendulkar himself. They had been in Australia for 2 months and they simply deserved to stay.
Most difficult decisions look correct only in retrospect.
Even if Dravid and Ganguly would have been in the team, the result would have probably been the same, but I think what has happened here is best for Indian Cricket. This entire team of 11 that won today, is the future Indian team. We have nobody even remotely close to retiring except the great man himself. And with this team thats good for another 5 years, we have beaten the World Champions at home. Thrice in the series and twice in a row.
Sounds good. Very very good.
Whs the flip side ? More advertisements, more millions being thrown at the players,the media hailing Ishant Sharma as the next Mcgrath and Rohit Sharma as the next Sachin Tendulkar.
Dhoni becoming more and more powerful. Almost dangerously so.
But the guard must change. The time is right and the time is now.
P.S. Sachin Tendulkar scored three crucial innings, to take India into the finals and then to help India win the Finals. Can you even quickly spot him in the photo ?
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