Cricket is something that runs in the veins of every Indian. It is more than a sport. It is our culture. In a country where children hold a bat before books, it definitely was a shock that India had not won any major ICC trophy for the past 13 years meaning that an entire generation had not seen our beloved team lift up a major international trophy.
As one of the best teams across all formats, we still experienced heartbreak after heartbreak as the Indian team was always inches away from the trophy.
Last year, in November, we once again came close to winning the cup with our batting lineup putting up a defendable score. Something which our world class bowlers had the ability to defend. Something that all residents watching the livestream in Boulevard wholeheartedly agreed.
Even without watching the match, people could feel the progress of the game whenever something significant happened. During that time, my exams were going on. I did not need to check the score simply because I could hear whenever a wicket was taken, or a boundary was hit. Alas, in the end, India lost!
Our society has since been hesitant to screen matches as we lost the finals. This time around, in the T20 World Cup, India had a similar performance to the ODI World Cup where we easily cruised to the finals.
However, instead of the mighty Aussies, we were matched up against a team who were appearing in an ICC final for the first time. Boulevard management unfortunately decided against screening the finals.
Fortunately, for all cricket fans, India’s 13 year long wait finally ended. The nail-biting catch by Surya Kumar, the game changing innings played by Virat, the absolute bowling performance by the pacers and just maybe a little contribution by us not screening the finals! 😀
After the win, it was as if the whole society erupted. Firecrackers and shouts could be heard outside showing that cricket binds us all even if it is only a simple sport.
