T20 World Cup : Believe to live another day

The writings have been written on the wall and the final testament has been read. For India to imitate their triumph of 2007, the road that lies ahead is devoid of any junctions and bifurcations. Logically the task has abridged down to its minimal complexity and there is only one possible solution left to re capture the lost glory. India needs to win every match that it plays from now on in order to be crowned the champions. If at any point of time, it fails to satisfy the criterion, all that would be left is packing the bags and checking the flight timings, that will be the end of the road for this year’s World Cup race. Full Stop. Thank You for flying down to the Carribean.

However slim and tender may be the odds more than one billion hearts always find the courage to conjure up that tiny ray of hope that finally decides on which side of the border you finally end up. However grim the chances may appear, more than one billion hearts pray incessently as if the world was struck by an apocalypse. That is the amount of pressure that the players have to bear and that is just one side of the coin. Add to it the mind games, sledging and the counterattack from the opposite team and you are surely looking at a pressure cooker scenario.

Call it a blessing in disguise or a killing curse, the choice, although is yours, they say it hardly makes a difference on the final outcome. As eleven of the country’s top cricketers take the field tonight against the erratic West Indian squad, every Indian’s hope of them making through to the semis would have reached its pinnacle. Every move of theirs will be scrutinised to the atomic level by the media, every mistake would be magnified a million times. Such is the magnitude of this sword wielding pressure that a pessimistic of the lowest degree would not have a seconds hesitation in terming this to be a deterrant.

But there have been miracles in the past and more are yet to follow. The Men in Blue have had to face such do or die situations in the past and on more occasion than one have they been able to make the cut. They have shown in the past that they have the mettle to survive through such intense situations and end up on the winning side. That is one of the reason why this country boasts of having cricket’s most frenzied followers on the planet. That is also one reason why the little ray of hope never extinguishes from the hearts of some billion odd people. And that is one reason why cricket is revered as the greatest sport of all by many around the globe.

It is as they say that a wounded tiger is a more dangerous opponent. Call it a blessing in disguise or a killing curse, the choice is yours, and I believe it is this essence of hope and fidelity that makes all the difference in the end.