A new age begins for Indian cricket (and the Indian fan)

There is an SMS going around India that goes something like this:
Knock Knock,
Who’s there?
Misbah
Misbah who?
Mis-bah just five runs.
It’s unkind, it’s churlish but truth be told, every single Indian cricket fan will smile, laugh and chuckle when he sees that text message. It captures perfectly the sentiment running through India right now.
To win the inaugural World Twenty20 Championships would have been achievement enough. To beat Pakistan in the final was both the icing and the cherry on top.
Along with the title and the trophy, there’s a lesson that is only just beginning to sink in. It’s proof that the future of Indian cricket is well and alive. It’s evidence that Indian cricket has the bench strength to cope come what may and doesn’t have to depend on big names to do the business time and again.
Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly would have been watching very closely. What they would have seen would no doubt have pleased them. They would have seen a brand new Indian captain come to grips with his new responsibility in a far lesser time than it took them. They would have seen him rally an Indian team that took Sourav Ganguly about a couple of years to build. They would have seen a bunch of youngsters ready to play cricket to enjoy it, to live in the moment and to play without the burden of expectation.
There’s no doubt that as members of this team grow in reputation more will come to be expected of them. Each time Rohit Sharma now takes the crease we will expect a six at crucial times. Every instance that RP Singh turns at the top of his mark, we will expect a ball delivered in the ‘channel’ and perhaps a wicket in his opening spell. We will undoubtedly expect MS Dhoni to lead India to victory with some inspirational decisions every time they play in a big series.
Let’s not carried away. This team is certainly one of the greatest India has had, but by no means is it perfect. Certain players didn’t fire but others compensated for that. When Sreesanth was having a bad day, RP Singh was right on the money. When Yuvraj Singh didn’t come good, Gautam Gambhir did. While it was disappointing from an individual point of view, it didn’t matter because India kept winning. When debutant Yusuf Pathan played in the most important limited overs game India has played since 2003 instead of the established Dinesh Karthik, questions were not raised because at the end of the day, India won.
The point to understand is that even this team can lose. There are weaknesses that might become evident and may be exposed in a 50 over game. The weight of a billion hopes will bear down on this team at exactly the times when they need to be free from that kind of pressure.
Only if the fans stop themselves from burning effigies each time India crashes to a loss, can Dhoni take a bold move like giving Joginder Sharma the last over in another crucial match. Only if Robin Uthappa is assured that his house will not be attacked, can he think of what clearly needs to be done to win with eight runs to get off three balls. We must temper our passion, love, enthusiasm and hopes with the fact that this is only just a game.
Ask Lance Klussner how he wakes up every morning after taking South Africa to the brink of the 1999 World Cup final. Ask Pat Rafter how he feels after being just a couple of points away from being Wimbledon Champion. Ask Zinedine Zidane where he finds the strength to go on loving his sport after his infamous moment in World Cup 2006. Ask Misbah-ul-Haq how he feels after taking Pakistan twice to the brink of famous wins over India. They will all tell you the same thing: it’s a lesson learnt, it’s the bitter truth, but it is after all just a game.
There’s a lesson for Indian fans here as well. We must support the men in blue no matter what happens. Yet, we can’t expect a win every time they take the field. This is a team that has already taken its initial steps towards greatness, but they will reach that destination only if we let them. Along the way we can’t bring out demonstrations or attack the BCCI office. We can’t throw stones at hoardings and spew venom at our cricketers. MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and co. will find their place in history with or without the support of the Indian fans.
We have the chance to put behind us years of mistrust and a love-hate relationship. Let us remember this one night in Johannesburg when the entire nation watched with baited breath what they knew was their destiny. Let us stay firm in our resolve that no matter what, we will stand behind our men in blue. And besides those eleven men in the middle, we will be their army, one billion strong.