A mother without her most favourite child as the subcontinental giants promise a super sunday

There is never any shortage of emotions nor any dearth of excitement when the subcontinental giants lock horns on a cricket field anywhere on this planet. I do not think ‘frenzy’ could have a better manifestation. Such is the impact of an India-Pakistan match.

A misty morning of 4^th march 1992 arrived amidst a frenzy, literally. The debut tour of this little boy wonder from Bombay had done enough to add to the wild excitement. An unbeaten 54 in 62 balls at SCG meant huge when one travels back the memory lane. India was languishing at 8^th position in the point table before the start of this match. Srikkanth, Azhar, Jadeja were back in the pavilion when Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the little master walked in to the middle to join his childhood friend and fellow Mumbaikar Vinod Kambli. Not so long after Kambli pulled a short-pitched one from the lesser Wasim (haidar), Jadeja flicked a delivery of the same bowler straight to Zahid Fazal at short mid-wicket. Came the tryst with the biggest stage, Sachin’s 36^th career ODI match. A fraction short from Aamir Sohail and the little master dispatched that to the deep mid wicket boundary. He drove, he cut and he punched the team go past 200. The man of the match award was the first of the three against the arch rival at the world cup.

The 1996 clash was more remembered for Prasad-Sohail and Jadeja-Waqar mini-battles than any other thing. As regards to Sachin, though the first wicket partnership was worth 90 runs in that high-octane quarter final at Chinnaswamy it was Navjot Singh Sidhu’s blade that was blazing more. Ajay Jadeja’s late assault could not probably have been timed better. What happened in the 2^nd half was epic and glad that Sachin’s patient 31 did not go in vain.

A bereaved master in 1999 joined back the team post finishing the last rituals and scored a classy century against Kenya. The loss against Zimbawe kept haunting the team as Ajay Jadeja’s brilliantly compiled century went in vain in the first match at the super six stage. Only a win over Pakistan at Old Trafford could have been the saving grace as they had carried nothing forward from the group stage. Not a big knock, but Sachin’s 45 was as fluent as it could have ever got. A strange rush of blood and he danced down to the track to Azhar Mahmood just to gist away an easy catch to Saqlain. Forgettable can only be apt to say the least. Thanks largely to a fiery Bangalorean who only knew how to take Pakistani wickets in pressure cooker situations that the master blaster ended up in the winning side.

A blistering statement of intent in the most eagerly awaited spectacle of the 2003, as was claimed by some cricket pundits  says it all. A chase of 273 never looked beyond reach. Cometh the occasion, cometh the man. Saeed Anwar’s classy century was reduced to a mere footnote as Sachin punched Wasim through covers. A little shuffle of the feet and a crafty handwork unfolded  the magic as the Shoaib’s bang got deposited over backward ropes. Such a pity that the six off Andrew Caddick was immediately rendered a lesser one. As if that was not enough, he followed it up with two sweeter-than-sweet boundaries. Shoiab was immediately taken off the attack, but the damage was already done. Even the cramps in his legs failed to put brake on the run machine. And guess what, Sachin was finally dismissed by him. Superstitions at work- I wish he had not taken the runner. Not a single word after this- 2003 was sent to the history book.

2007 was plain unlucky not to have witnessed an Indo-Pak meeting. A win over Pakistan, had they met and won would have given some real solace. Alas, destiny had other plans to force me to save some words. Horrendous time in the Caribbean islands, the Indian team had flown back even before the real business actually began. 

A fitting 2011 edition from India’s point of view looked like scripted and played to perfection. To quote a certain Virat Kohli, “It is time to carry a person (Sachin) on our shoulders, who has been carrying the dreams of millions on his shoulders since two decades.” I do not think I could coin better words or I could frame a better sentence. Sachin rode on greasy Pakistani palms to yet another man of the match and a ticket to history. I do not think Sachin himself would be so proud of the way it happened. However in the context of the game the 85 runs     studded with 11 hits to the fence ensured that the juggernaut rolled on. It would have been such a shame for the best batsman to have donned the coloured clothing in the biggest cricketing extravaganza had he walked into the sunset with the trophy still eluding his kitty.

Life has moved on ever since a Dhoni-led Indian team revisited the podium after a good 28 years. However, the tag of defending champion is quite intimidating. We may not possibly imagine the amount of pressure that this Indian squad will have to handle. But as followers a billion cricket enthusiasts in India will certainly not accept anything less than the coveted trophy. Of late, things have not really been so sweet to write about. Many eyebrows were raised when the world cup bound squad was announced. Most, including your truly, were expecting a certain Yuvraj Singh in the scheme of things especially after his three tons in domestic circuit. But the selectors had other plans and I guess we have to live with that. I must drop a caveat here that all Indians wear a non-challengeable I-know-my-cricket tag on their sleeves. Come what may, they do not like those to be challenged, let alone being taken away.

Few hours from now and all eyeballs will be eagerly diverted to the island continent. If the build up to the tournament is anything to go by Indian hopes are so unfairly hovering around the wicket keeper captain and his deputy who regained his red hot form in the just concluded test series down under. Some amount of cynicism is bound to creep in as our expectations are as high as an Everest.

Notwithstanding the  over reactive fans and critics ripping apart the team even before the tourney takes off, I would certainly give whatever Dhoni’s men deserve. Team selection is something we do not really need to worry about. What we must now look forward to is how the combination of an eleven performs on those given days. I am sure the guys know their business the best. And, they are out there to do the job. Its only us who get high on a win and low on a loss without even shading a split second’s thought that the opposition teams are not just there to complete the draw. 

I am still trying hard to come to terms with a world cup without the two master blasters -Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar taking part. Though we will, most certainly, get to see or hear Sunny as a commentator and/or a columnist, Sachin may elude us. On a very personal note, I had never visualised any cricket world cup without Sachin, honestly. So I will take this one on 14^th February 2015 with a pinch of salt. Mother of all cricketing clashes will certainly miss her most favourite child. Now it is up to the Sunday to live up to its promise.