As a sports fan, I have endured countless debacles over the last few decades. I still remember the Indian Cricket Team collapsing like a pack of cards in the 96' World Cup semi-final, can recall Dhanraj Pillay's tears when India lost a medal chance by a whisker in the 2000 Olympics, still dwell upon what would have happened if Saurav Ganguly elected to bat first instead of putting Australia in on a flat track in the 2003 Final and still find it hard to digest Andy Roddick's ultra narrow loss to Roger Federer in the 2009 Wimbledon Final. Every hurt is different, some fade away with time and some live on, only to flare up every time a similar incident happens.
Today those hurts of the past flared up again when an inexperienced but talented Indian team lost to an English team resembling a well oiled machinery. This was not just any match it was the World Cup Final and it was a final we were winning. As someone who had the misfortune of seeing the last 45 minutes of the match, I saw India tumble from a position of strength at 191/3 to 219 All Out. Years dumb your reactions, as a kid tears would swell up in my eyes whenever my favorite teams or players would lose. But as a grown up who has seen several ups and downs, I merely stared at the monitor with a poker face wondering what was going on in the minds of those poor girls who gave it their all only to be denied at the final step.
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| A devasted Mithali Raj along with Harmanpreet Kaur |
Today those hurts of the past flared up again when an inexperienced but talented Indian team lost to an English team resembling a well oiled machinery. This was not just any match it was the World Cup Final and it was a final we were winning. As someone who had the misfortune of seeing the last 45 minutes of the match, I saw India tumble from a position of strength at 191/3 to 219 All Out. Years dumb your reactions, as a kid tears would swell up in my eyes whenever my favorite teams or players would lose. But as a grown up who has seen several ups and downs, I merely stared at the monitor with a poker face wondering what was going on in the minds of those poor girls who gave it their all only to be denied at the final step.
As a kid I never understood what hurt me most about a defeat. Today I know, more than the loss what hurts the most is seeing the dreams of athletes (you care so much about) turning to dust. What we fans feel is nothing compared to what the women of the Indian Cricket team feel at this present moment. Until a month ago I didn't even know that the cricket world cup for women was around the corner, until a fortnight ago I only knew the names of three players on the Indian team and today's match was only one of a handful of women's matches I had seen in the last decade. Now contrast my hurt to that of the Indian captain for whom this is probably the last world cup. Mithali Raj, the captain of the Indian Team and one of the foremost batters in the world spent the better part of the last decade and a half educating people like me about the power of the women's game and yet she doesn't get to walk away into the sunset with the trophy she so richly deserves.
Life is not fair and many times sport is not fair. V.V.S. Laxman for all his talent never played in a world cup, Ivan Lendl as great as a tennis player he was never won the Wimbledon, Milkha Singh the fastest middle distance runner of his time doesn't have a single Olympic medal next to his name. The fact that Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami might never have a world cup to their names pains me but there is one universal truth that gives me solace. Champions are not always defined by the titles they hold, the legacy they leave behind and the way they played their game would linger longer in public memory than the titles they won.
As an Indian, I would have loved to see India win the World Cup. While that didn't happen, I would still like the contributions of these brave women to never be forgotten. Yes, this team deserves tons of kudos for the way they played all throughout this tournament. They came from nowhere and they had a legitimate crack at the biggest prize in cricket. Victory eluded them by a whisker but they gave their heart out. That's how I would like to remember this day where the cup was lost. As for Mithali and Jhulan my heart would always feel a certain pinch knowing that they haven't ticked the World Champion column but the sting of the pinch would always subside with the knowledge that these ladies have left legendary legacies for an entire nation to emulate.
Until Next Time,
Yours Hopefully,
J.J. Chaitanya
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