Oh! Boy! Oh! Boy… there is something in this victory

Himanshu Shekhar

The shadow of defeat is long but the taste of victory lingers on for eternity. That too a victory like the one India achieved the other day at Perth. It is sure to be immortalized in the minds of cricket lovers across the globe and will stay there for generations to come. Merely days old, the picture of Harbhajan Singh with ‘Tiranga’ in hand and Sehwag darting madly after the seemingly impossible win is part of cricket folklore now. Historians are unanimous on the opinion that history in motion is very difficult to perceive and one is most vulnerable to drawing false conclusions about the events when the objective distance is the minimum. We are too close and near to the red letter day, 19th of January 2008, to realize its magnitude and significance. Being an Indian is undoubtedly a drawback for a reporter because the natural elation accruing out of it will colour his/her perspective and might even blur the vision of the spectacle. One must give full credit to India for the way they clawed out of a near certain defeat. Struggling successfully against all kinds of odds was never a strong point of India. At crucial junctures they are the most likely to falter - the successive defeats in Melbourne and Sydney were a testimony to the fact. But for once, they emerged triumphant when not even the staunchest of Indian supporters would have expected them to do so. It was not the first time and it will not be the last time when India will undo the previous hard work and blow away its chances the way it did for most part of the game. One remembers numerous situations where India, from the safest of circumstances pulled out a surprise and ended up losing. But, that was another day, in Perth they did nothing wrong and for the moment it seemed they could even walk on water. Laxman the `Very Very Special` artist at work VVS Laxman batted like an artist, going about the task in the second innings with deft strokes, which could even evoke envy in MF Hussain. Pathan bowled like a man possessed and made a comeback, as if he had never left in the first place. Kumble showed a stature of a statesman and made sure that they stayed focused on their target like the legendary ‘Arjuna’. Hope proved to be the ultimate weapon of Aussie destruction. The Indian teams of the past have been guilty of losing all hope when the chips are down at crucial junctures. Team India exhibited a rare combination of sensible and sensational cricket, and soon that hope gave way to faith. A faith that they could achieve the impossible. No great task is ever accomplished without surmounting insurmountable hurdles. The faith was jolted when Harbhajan Singh was earlier penalized on absurd charges. Charges of ‘racial discrimination’ were serious enough to compel the Indian players to choose between competing or stepping out for salvaging national pride. At stake was nothing less than national pride. It will be interesting to see how the appeal against Harbhajan is handled by the power wielders of ICC. ICC probably saw that coming at Oval when the Test match was forfeited, but decided to ignore it? As a ten-year old I was taught ‘A stitch in time saves nine,’ probably ICC bosses did not come across the adage before? Anyways, cricket is a great leveller and Perth just proved that. Converting probabilities into possibilities and possibilities into realities has remained the bane of Indian cricket for long, and we have seen long enough how they have failed to bridge the gap between gallant winners and valiant losers. Probably the job is just half done, but we have made a beginning which is historic. WACA, Perth told a different story. A story of hope and faith. Or else how would one explain a 19-year old Ishant Sharma, who is struggling to cement his place in the side went on to torment the skipper of the most formidable team. That moment restores our conviction in the phenomenon that cricket is in India. The steepest of the hurdle has been crossed in the most glorious manner and we hope that from here, the Indian team will go on to scale peaks unheard of before. Adelaide will be the test. Are we indeed champions, or will we continue the saga of inconsistencies?