ICC Champions Trophy 2013 Final - LOL report

One just couldn’t keep Ashwin out of the game. He took catches, wickets, and ran like Usain Bolt after picking wickets. Can’t help but wonder why he doesn’t do the same while batting. While Morgan and Bopara, an Irishman and and Indian, started to raise the English hopes, Dhoni persisted with the long-haired Ishant Sharma, who didn’t need the help of a towel to indicate that he would be taken for plenty of runs. Not just the crowd, but also the wicket was favoring the Indians. The ball gripped and turned like it did in the movie ‘Lagaan’ when Kachra bowled.

There was outrage when Dhoni asked Ishant to bowl his 4th over, having taken for close to 10 runs an over in his first three. Maybe Ishant washed all of Dhoni’s clothes during the Champions Trophy and he was just returning the favor. Ishant could have had a better chance of bowling well had he bowled spin, some thought. But he picked up two key wickets, of Bopara and Morgan, surprising everybody including himself.

It seemed as if England were waiting for the Ashes to use the batting powerplay. They kept it for the final two overs but the damage had been done. Harsha Bhogle tried to shout at the top of his voice and made sure we didn’t miss Ravi Shastri in the closing stages of the game. With six runs needed off one ball, Ashwin bowled a dot ball and India had won. Dhoni, despite the grey hair, celebrated like a kid for the first few seconds before he decided to go back to the Duncan Fletcher mode.

England were frustrated and dejected. If they had a time machine, they would probably go back in time and un-invent cricket. It’s been that kind of a journey for them. Kohli’s Gangnam Style and Jadeja’s impersonation of Dwayne Bravo were the highlights of the Indian team’s victory lap.

India were invincible throughout the tournament. At this rate, India might even win the Ashes.