SK Flashback : World Cup 2003 Final - A thorn in the heart of Indian cricket fans

Even “God” fails revive India’s chances

Sachin’s dismissal brought an end to India’s World Cup hopes

At the break, Indians knew that Sachin Tendulkar was the only person who could have brought back their team back in the match. I distinctly remember that I had gone out to a shop downstairs to get something and was hoping to be back before the end of the first over. When I heard a loud noise, I knew Sachin had hit a boundary. Unfortunately for me and the entire nation that was the only boundary we saw from Sachin’s bat on that fateful day.

By the time I came back home, both Sachin and with him, India’s hopes of winning the final were back in the pavilion. Though the team had other good batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh among others, they were still depending on their number one batsman to get them out of trouble.

So, when the little master miscued a pull off the fifth ball of the Indian innings and handed an easy catch to McGrath; many television sets in India were shut down. It was as though there was a power outage in India. I had my board exams going on and immediately I was ordered to get back to studies by my parents.