Skip to main content

World Cup 2019 - The dream ends

I woke up to a morning which no other Indian fan would have liked to wake up to. Chasing a modest total India were 100-odd for six wickets. There was a faint ray of hope however in the form of Jadeja and Dhoni. An hour later when I reached the office that ray of hope burnt like a flame when the partnership brought the target down to about 40 runs. But it didn't last much longer when everything was snuffed out in the matter of a few deliveries.

2019 World Cup Semifinal: When Jadeja and Dhoni kept us in the hunt
2019 World Cup Semifinal: When Jadeja and Dhoni kept us in the hunt <Courtesy: ICC>

The first thing I did after the match was to attend my morning meeting, thinking that only some positivity in the form of work would allow me to drown the negativity of this defeat. The next thing I did was to reach out to my brother whom I knew had watched the match in its entirety. I also tried to console my best friend who was disconsolate that India had come so close only to lose the match. I  naturally felt bad for the disappointment they experienced but I found that the heaviness in my heart dissipated when I shared their dismay.

Today, I take time to remember that little kid who was heartbroken when India lost to Australia by a single run, that boy who was grief stricken when India collapsed like a heap before Sri Lankan spin, that teenager who was anguished by what Henry Olonga's magic did to India and that youth who was mortified that India didn't couldn't even survive the group stage in the 2007 World Cup. We Indian fans have been through a lot but as a grown man today I shall not allow myself to dwell for too long over a game. A lot of things in this life are transient, while this defeat is painful it doesn't change anything in the grand scheme of things. The future of Indian Cricket is secure with some good players and the future of our country and this world is secure with all of us.

In closing, my heart goes out to all the hardcore Indian Cricket Fans out there who invest their time, money, hopes and emotions to see India over the line every time. The sorrow you feel is unimaginable but I urge you to support your fellow countrymen who are grieving just the way you are. Let not hatred of any kind diminish the festivity and joie de vivre you brought to this world cup. Each and everyone of us is a representative of this great country, let's move on from this and prove that bigger things are ours to be. 

Until Next Time,

Your Fellow Cricket Fan,
J.J. Chaitanya

PS:
  • We didn't find a settled middle order, we weren't able to accelerate in the final overs and whenever the big guns failed we struggled. We never really addressed our frailties, guess this result was always on the cards. 
  • In the evening today, I went to my scrabble club and lost a game by 19 points. The last wicket for India fell with 19 runs more to get, in defeat I paid my tribute once again to the Indian Team of World Cup 2019. 
  • After returning home, I had a conversation with my mother who had watched the entire match along with my brother and father. When I asked her whether she was disappointed, she smiled and said, "No, we gave our best and took it till the end. That's the only thing which matters!" I couldn't argue with that sentiment and silently marveled at her wisdom.
So long folks! The dream was good as long as it lasted. Now's the time for another dream.

Comments

Popular Posts

Mahabharata by C.Rajagopalachari

There are books which you read and then there are books which make you read them and change your life. Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari's (Rajaji's) Mahabharata belongs to the latter category. Mahabharata introduced me to the joy of reading books as a kid and today I couldn't have picked a better topic for my 25th post. I cannot describe what a pleasure and honor it is to extol the virtues of this classic book during this holy festive season of  Makar Sankranti . Mahabharata by C.Rajagopalachari The story of Mahabharata is as old as the mountains and has been retold several times. Mahabharata by Rajaji however stands out in my mind because here is a story which is spiritual yet not religious, is thought provoking yet not preachy, is compelling yet not tedious. The story left an indelible impression upon me for several reasons which are: Rajaji uses extremely simple language to convey some of the finer aspects of the saga. I was 10 years old when I read Mahabharata

KBR National Park

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the fifth largest city in India - Hyderabad lies KBR (Kasu Brahmananda Reddy) National Park . It's difficult to imagine a natural habitat in the center of a concrete jungle but that's exactly what KBR park is - an oasis in middle of an urban desert . One of Hyderabad's prized tourist attractions which in my opinion doesn't get the attention it deserves. The Entrance I don't remember when I first noticed the park but it soon became a sight which I couldn't miss during the course of my everyday commute to work. I always wondered what lay beyond the entrance but never found the time to check it out for myself until last year. But let me back up a bit, there's a back story to my first visit to the park. In my ' Count Your Blessings ' post, I talked about how a walk around my office building started a positive change in my life. That incident made ' walking ' a fixture in my everyday ro

Zamarrud Theatre Hyderabad

More than two decades ago a 5 year old boy (yours truly) found himself in Abids which was certainly then the microcosm of Hyderabad. Abids in the 80s <Courtesy: OkaTeluguAbbayi > The occasion was a family outing to Zamarrud Cinema. And we are stepping out for not just any movie my friends, my parents decided that nothing less than the Raj Kapoor blockbuster Chori Chori was good enough for us. To be honest I wasn't exactly enthused about watching a black and white film of a bygone era even though the movie had all the credentials of a classic. But that was before I saw Zamarrud, the theatre where the movie was being played. Nested in the heart of Abids, Zamarrud was the perfect amalgamation of Hyderabad's old world charm and new fangled ways. Zamarrud was not just any theatre, it was one of the first air conditioned halls in Hyderabad, a premiere cinema hall which used to host the best of what the film industry had to offer and the place to go for Hyderabad'

Chhatrapati Shivaji Biography - Challenging Destiny by Medha Deshmukh-Bhaskaran

I guess it was destiny that the 150th post of Life Etc Etc had to be about Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji rose like a phoenix from humble beginnings in the 17th century and laid the foundation for the Maratha empire which changed the course of  history. The history I studied at school restricted his life and achievements to a single chapter and quite erroneously credited the British Rule with the decline of the Mughal empire. I found out later on that it was in fact the Marathas under the able leadership of Shivaji who hastened the Mughal empire's downfall. They were the preeminent power whom the British had to checkmate in order to wrest control of the Indian subcontinent. Despite such monumental achievements my history syllabi had very little information about Shivaji. It was therefore a no-brainer for me to pick up this book and discover for myself why the history of India would never be complete without the mention of Shivaji.  In order to understand any historical c

Black Eagle (1988)

I have a soft corner in my heart for the action films of the eighties . I am also a huge fan of movies where stars are cast against type ( see Vera Cruz ). So, when I got a chance to watch 1988's  Black Eagle  pitting international action star Jean-Claude Van Damme as the 'villain' against acclaimed martial arts guru Sho Kosugi ,   I just couldn't let it pass by. Black Eagle 1988 Plot When a US F-111 jet carrying a laser tracking device goes missing in the Mediterranean, agent Ken Tani (Sho Kosugi) code-named ' Black Eagle ' is summoned to retrieve the device before the Soviet KGB acquires it. Ken unwillingly lands in Malta and is immediately targeted by Soviet Agent Andrei (Jean-Claude Van Damme). Will Ken acquire the tracking device? Who wins? (Guess that answer is obvious!) The Cliches Cliches are the life and soul of action movies. When you have a martial arts movie in the spy genre those cliches only double. So here are all the noteworthy cli