Mumbai, April 02: Moment. After 42 days, 48 matches, 20,000 runs, 700 wickets, it will boil down to that split-second decision, indecision, procrastination, action, inaction…
Some time during the seven hours, 100 overs and 600 deliveries on Saturday, there will come a fraction of a time that will decide the fate of the final between India and Sri Lanka.
One such a moment had come on a wintry, windy, misty evening in London. A certain Kapil Dev saw that and captured it with both hands — yes both hands — literally and figuratively. He ran as if his life depended on that run. That 30-metre sprint from short mid-wicket to deep mid-wicket looked like a journey for eternity. Rest, as they say, is history. The 1983 win changed the cricket world on its axis. The wait for another such moment has been unending. For 28 years, a billion people have been waiting for that elusive triumph.
MS Dhoni must have been still sucking his fingers when Kapil Dev took that catch to dismiss Vivian Richards. Those fingers have turned into safe hands since. Will there be such a moment on Saturday?
The real question is not if there will be such a moment but will Dhoni be able to recognise that moment. It could come in the form of a catch, stumping, run-out, or an important decision. The trick lies not just in taking the catch or effecting the stumping alone but recognising the moment and acting on it. In a split second, that is.
Any of Dhoni’s 14-members should not only grab the opportunity with both hands but create it too. Even though the skipper would desist from talking about personnel there is no dearth of individual brilliance in the side. “The match-winners? We’ve got quite a few but it is not about individuals but the team,” the India skipper would say on the eve of the final. That is the best thing about this team. They convert the biggest challenge into biggest opportunity.
The desire apart, India have too many strengths to be contained by Lanka. The batting is too powerful — it is not only top heavy but also middle heavy. With seven batsmen, led by Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, Indian batting sends shivers down the spines of the opposition. “They have got the best batting line-up in the world,” Kumar Sangakkara would declare.
India are not a one-dimensional team though. The bowling has the penetration if not the fire power of an Australian side. Zaheer Khan has been irresistible with the old ball and Harbhajan Singh is coming into his groove. R Ashwin has the creativity and Munaf is a street fighter. Yuvraj Singh? Well, he can win the match with the ball too.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are a well-oiled unit but not a formidable one. Lasith Malinga has the ability to strike any time with toe-crunching yorkers, Muttiah Muralitharan, playing his last match, will be raring to unleash the doosras, Mahela Jayawardene, and Tillakaratne Dilshan are dangerous customers with the bat. But coming into the final, India have vanquished better teams.
The Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday will be a place for favourite backers. Over 33,000 people would be cheering, screaming and egging on the team. Over a billion people outside the stadium and city will be hoping that Dhoni will keep the winning-streak going.
They will also be hopingSachin Tendulkar to do it. It could be his last World Cup game and he has got the perfect setting for it. A final in his home ground — the trophy could be his and India’s. But then, to achieve that, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Team India will have to grab that one chance that might come their way sometime during the match.
—Agencies