Heads high even while losing

My Dad made us watch the beautiful game of Cricket from a very early age. He taught us the rules with all patience, explained all the history he had learnt by reading thousands of articles and books, even during those internet-less days. From then till yesterday, I have witnessed India getting knocked out twice in semi-finals and once in a Finals in World Cup competitions. Each defeat was chastening and at the end of it, I was finding ways to place the blame on someone, due to whom the Cup was lost. From Sunil Gavaskar to Mohammed Azharuddin to Zaheer Khan, nobody was spared.

Though we witnessed another of those painful losses today, I somehow never could find reasons to be angry with the team. I will be lying if I say I wasn't disappointed. I was, as many of you were. But unlike the previous defeats, this one didn't make me feel devastated. I honestly thought we were always punching above our weights and exceeding our own expectations. Of course, it would have been nice if we had bowled a little better to Steven Smith and not allowed him to score freely without many risks. It would have been easier had we restricted the Aussies to a 300 run total. But it's all hindsight and as they say, that's the easiest thing to do.

Let's look at the flip side of it. Having been in the poorest form possible when the World Cup began, how big a disaster it would have been had Dhoni's men lost against Pakistan in the opening game? How badly would that have affected the millions of supporters back home? Didn't the Men in Blue provide us the ultimate joy each one can imagine, not to mention the bragging rights?

We had never won a World Cup game against South Africa until a few weeks ago and it won't take a rocket scientist to say who was the stronger of the two teams on paper. But didn't we defy the odds and score a thumping win over the Proteas which allowed us to top the group? 

Our much-maligned bowling unit stood up in valiant fashion to bowl out the opposition in 7 out of 8 attempts. How big is that? Shikhar Dhawan was humiliated in such brutal fashion in social media by people who haven't picked up a bat in their lifetime. How brilliantly did he turn his fortunes around once the World cup began and consistently provide good starts to the team? He made the team-management, which stood beside him, proud and made his critics, feel ashamed about themselves, myself included. Rohit Sharma is surely not a fan's favorite in spite of his enormous natural talent. But the innings he produced against Bangladesh in the Quarterfinals was a gem. I agree, he still has to develop the consistency, but he is at least trying.

What is most shocking is the way Virat Kohli has been criticized. Accept it or not, he is the best batsmen across all formats that India has at the moment. His batting skills are widely acknowledged by experts world over and his undying belief in himself is champion-like. He did fail today, but even the great Sachin Tendulkar failed to cross 20 in the two World Cup finals he played. Anybody who has followed or played the game with any amount of seriousness, will know all it takes is one crazy moment for a batsman to be dismissed. The line they play with is extremely thin. He is a proven match-winner, it's largely unfair to blame him (or anybody associated with him) for today's loss.

And no defeat is complete without Dhoni's role in it being questioned. One of the greatest traits of Dhoni, the batsman, is to stay in the match for as long as possible, hanging on with a belief that he can win it even from improbable situations. He doesn't go for indiscreet strokes just because the asking rate goes beyond 9. Unfortunately, he was left with too big a task today and he wasn't able to complete it as effectively as he and the country wanted to. But it was never his fault. The damage was done much earlier. 
Michael Vaughan had the audacity to ask "Why didn't Dhoni dive to reach?" I have followed the Indian skipper's career right through and never once have I seen him sprawl on the pitch to complete a run. He always believes if he cannot get to the crease by his pace, he cannot do it with a dive and so he never does. MSD always has critics, but he relishes proving them wrong. 

I am personally very proud of what Team India achieved in this World Cup. The pleasure the team has provided us with each win cannot be replaced. I adored the spirit with which the bowlers performed, the fielders dived around to stop each run and the batsmen consistently delivered when it mattered, except today. Instead of moaning about crashing out of the World Cup, let's acknowledge the Aussies for a thoroughly professional performance to win, while offering a whole-hearted applause to our own Men in Blue, for the determined run. 

Without trying to be too philosophical, I conclude by saying what Sports means to me. It is all about giving a good account of yourself and making life as difficult as possible for the opposition. If you manage to win, celebrate it. If you don't, feel proud about the fact you didn't let it go too easily. Winning is only a by-product and is not the ultimate outcome.

If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same...

- Rudyard Kipling

MS Dhoni knows it all too well!

Pictures courtesy: BCCI Website