Finally, defeat catches up!

India finally lost out in a major tournament in quite some time actually! Dhoni's magic run which started with the previous T20 World cup, ironically has turned a new leaf this time around. Only that the leaf is a thorn!

It had to be said, the Indian team started this tournament on the wrong foot. Be it accidental or incidental, Sehwag's so called fight with Dhoni - took the focus of the team to the wrong pedestal!
Cricket teams like most teams at work - never exist with all members agreeing. Its always hierarchical and if the Captain says - "its a great day to play today" - everyone in the team pretty much agrees - while standing under a big umbrella, protecting themselves from the fiercest of rains!

With this setup, and the "Indian team" being always an emotional passtime for the Indians - its not difficult to see - why every single drop of a hat - is taken as an "infight" Catch 22 situation! Dhoni was to be a level headed guy, but even he seemed very fired up at the press meetings. These out-of-the ground situations only tell the story of a team not prepared to focus. Focus on the right targets!

Complication 1: The IPL schedule with its innumerable games and energy-sapping schedule. Its as if the BCCI looks at the players like some greedy merchant running a circus. The more the number of shows, the better filled is my coffer! Hello the great "BCCI" - wake up. These are also human beings who are playing the game.

Complication 2: The new magic ball! The bouncer! How many times would these top players practised it in the nets! Is it really a mystery ball?! The pitches on which India played, cannot be termed as fast or furious. Purely run of the mill. It beats the sensibility of the average fan, why the entire Indian team went to UK - to swat flies instead of hitting the cricket ball!

Complication 3: This was existant from the day we won the T20 World Cup. The ability of Indians to handle success. Its quite a story in itself, how Indians at large, prefer to be the underdogs - rather than the favourites. This one is a topic for another blog!

Watching the game vs England, one amongst the many millions - that nite, it was just too difficult to come to terms with the eventual result. 80 runs and 45 balls - I sort of knew it was all but over! But then, as is common with the Indian psyche - greed or lets say - overambition - that India might just about pull it off. It was not to be as the English bowlers, learnt many lessons on bowling short, thanks to the chapter being introduced by the West Indians!

The night grew old too - as Dhoni and Yusuf walked off the field around 1:20 ish in the morning. Compare this to the feeling in 2007 - when in UK, we were congratulating fellow Indians at work - "Thank God, India has won a world cup in our lifetime". Umpteen brisk paces of anxiety, shock and disappointment - as the game progressed - between the hall and the dining room of my house - is what remains fresh of that night!

The party is over. Time for clean up!