By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS
New Delhi : India’s Twenty20 World Championships triumph has settled several cricketing issues in one fell swoop: the 2007 World Cup disaster is history, Irfan Pathan’s usefulness and his comeback, Rudra Pratap Singh’s coming of age, Yuvraj Singh’s immense natural talent.
There is more … Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s leadership qualities, Indians’ instant liking, and adaptability, to the slam bang version and last, but not the least, the importance of the youngsters’ infectious exuberance in the team.
India not only edged past Pakistan by five runs in Johannesburg to claim the inaugural Twenty20 title, but also heralded a new era in cricket – and the beginning of the end of the ‘holy trinity’ of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, who have carried the nation’s hopes for a decade and more with their sublime, oriental magic.
By opting out of the maiden Twenty20 World Championships, the trio wisely solved several problems – for themselves, the selectors and the cricket board. Their judgement gave millions of Indian fans an opportunity to watch new stars in the making – the likes of Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan, Rohit Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth, etc.
But the biggest effect of the well-deserved triumph was that it wiped out the bitter memories of India’s first-round exit from the World Cup in the West Indies five months ago. The nation had gone into prolonged mourning after that literally tearful exit of the game’s most glamorous boys in sky blue.
Monday evening, when Dhoni received the Jaipur-crafted trophy no one talked about those two March days when Sri Lanka and Bangladesh stunned India and sent them packing to the wailing, and angry, crowds. All that is passé.
Twenty20 is the latest fad, so savour it. Howsoever short the format, the championship matches gave enough indication of the players’ form, though the demands of ODIs and Test matches are quite different from that of hit-hit-hit Twenty20.
Medium pacer Rudra Pratap’s continuing purple patch, the magnificent comeback of his fellow left-arm boweler Irafan Pathan and Yuvraj’s big-hitting prowess were some of the major gains for India, who now go headlong into a home ODI series against Australia starting Saturday.
If Yuvraj – who also became the first player to hit six sixes in an over – hogged the limelight with his swashbuckling batting and pompous celebrations, Rudra Pratap Singh and Irfan Pathan quietly reaped the rewards.
While Uttar Pradesh’s R.P. finished the second highest wicket taker with 12 scalps in the tournament with his deceptive swing and angles, Pathan’s comeback to the national team after being dropped for the England tour was perfect.
The Vadodara bowler took 10 wickets and bowled the most important spell for India at a critical juncture in the final. His 4-0-16-3 spell against Pakistan helped India win the title and himself the Man of the Match accolade.
Dhoni also underlined his leadership qualities – absorbing more pressure and showing less, keeping calm in tense situations, not going delirious when the tide turned in his favour – and warmed up in style to captain India against Australia in ODIs, succeeding Dravid. So what if he did not click with the bat in South Africa.
The team’s quietest members played no less crucial roles with bat and ball. Left-handed Gautam Gambhir ended up a close second in the highest aggregate list, his 227-run tally being only inferior to Australian Matthew Hayden’s 265.
Joginder Sharma, that quiet seamer from Haryana, bowled the crucial final overs in two crunch games, including the final, and came away smiling and trying hard to celebrate.
Also, India as a team learnt to take on the mighty Australia and win too. And they won just before a home series, snatching the crucial psychological edge.
All said and done, it was a Twenty20, hit-and-run format. The tougher tests for the players will come when they play ODIs and the Test matches in the months to come. But then, we will have the ‘trinity’ back, perhaps one last time before they walk into the proverbial sunset.