It was India's day when it embattled Sri Lanka in the final clash of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup finals in a jam packed Mumbai arena. Sri Lanka gave a tough target of 274 for India to match. But the Indian resolve to win was seen right from the outset, even after losing its stalwarts Sehwag and Tendulkar very early in the match.
The incoming Kohli, Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj looked calm and confident with utter ease to chase the target. Almost every ball was a scoring ball and the target was achieved with much ease without any irresponsible shots or even gestures. Kohli's 97 and Dhoni's 91 were the match winners for India. The last six by Dhoni was hit with so much ease as if it was a normal hit. Dhoni went onto win the Man of the match award for his unbeaten match winning performance of 91 , whereas Yuvraj Singh won the Man of the Tournament for his exceptional all round performance.
The crowd roared to the tremendous victory and the team thanked the crowd for their support.
Watching the Indians playing with an exceptional resolve to win reminded me of the lacking resolve by the Pakistani players when they played against India in the semi final. The slow paced game and the in-attitude to win was clearly visible. The players like and Younis and Misbah played as if the winning or losing the game didn't matter at all. The wasting of dozens of balls by Misbah cost Pakistan dearly and allowed an un-ceremonial exit from the tournament. The team threw in the towel too easily.
The winning resolve shown by India should be a lesson for Pakistan in its future cricket to stand firm and win rather lose with their callous and casual attitude.
Well done Sri Lanka and well played India - you deserved to lift the trophy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment