Fourth CWC win

 Fourth win and I have been privileged to have seen all of them - 1983, 2007, 2011 & now 2024. 

This win will reverberate throughout the country, thanks to the outreach of social media and millions of satellite channels. Already, I could see hundreds of Instagram posts of different players sharing their feelings.  

1983, like Kapil's Devils have often said, was the year of the underdog. The average Indian started to realize themselves on their own capability and started to make their presence felt. It was a long while from then, while the country saw the onset of globalization and technology induction while the cricketing world witnessed the match-fixing claims. Then came the fresh air of youth.

The 2007 win was of a young team who had left the seniors behind,  after a disastrous loss in the 50 over format and gone with a young fresh team under a calm, composed legend-to-be. 

The same captain who would repeat the champion status in multiple formats culminating in the home victory in 2011 that saw Sachin Tendulkar bow out gracefully, after four attempts to win the World Cup. Again, a decade of near-misses and birth of a number of younger champions were witnessed.

Then, the redemption of a number of people in the Indian team. Rahul Dravid was the captain when the country lost the 2007 50-over Cup very early in the league stage. As a player, he was there in 2003 as a wicket-keper but bowed out at the last stage. He would return as the coach and taken the U19 team to the title. As the coach of the senior team, he coached the team to multiple knockout stages but they wouls falter either at the semis or the finals for a long while. But using all the experience, he guided the team one last time to win the tournament in a convincing fashion!

Virat Kohli wanted to have one last hurrah before he gave up this format - RCB did not give him the proper team balance to win the IPL. He had a great team at Barbados! Rohit Sharma missed out on the WTC and ODI CWC finals. He was like a man possessed. Hardik Pandya was trolled everywhere during the IPL for becoming the captain & 4-5 months later, he was defending 16 runs off the last over, to win the Cup. Rishabh Pant, after his accident was in the ICU wondering if he could play again! What a way to cap off his first season back!!

  Axar Patel missed out on the 2023 ODI World Cup due to injury and he was due to get a proper place in the white ball team. Kuldeep Yadav had returned after remodeling his action and he wanted to get a piece of the Cup. Jasprit Bumrah & Mohammed Siraj  had great success with the new ball in the last 2-3 years - could they spur the team to greater glory? What happened next? The entire set of players with the support of the coaching staff and prayers of a billion Indians defeated the Proteas in a thrilling manner to raise the Cup.

This was a memorable triumph for the likes of Yashaswi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh & Rinku Singh - this will give them the much-needed confidence of how to craft their career going forward and the targets to set for themselves. This is what should and will spur Indian cricket to greater heights. Dinesh Karthik summarized it very well in his tribute to the entire team - what a brilliant performance! Words are difficult to find, after this win!  Again, I feel very blessed to see the fourth World Cup won by the Indians - a feeling that will stay with me till the end!