IS TEAM INDIA STILL WORLD CHAMPION AFTER  ENGLAND SERIES

2 APRIL 2011: Two Asian teams fighting for the ultimate title in one day cricket… penultimate over of the match…  millions of anxious eyes glued to T.V. screens… hearts throbbing as Nuvan Kulasekra bowls his second delivery… Indian captain cool on strike…. And BANG……!!! India creates history… India becomes world champion… we become world champions…! We did it…  Joy & ecstasy at its best, as India wins the acid test… For every Indian, these are moments worth cherishing throughout the life, moments worth remembering & reliving again & again.  Team India became apple of the eye of all cricket lovers…

BUT…. Just three months passed & things changed 180 degrees… Fans once chanting the Bleed Blue mantra, were now grumbling & criticising. Insulting comments & criticisms were being thrown on Team India from all directions as Team India returned from nightmare of a tour in England. Ironically, the champions were now ridiculed & even being called as ‘donkeys’.

Now the question being discussed all over “Is Team India still world champion”? but, in my opinion the real question must be  “why the hell, we are asking this question”??? Team India is of course world champion…! Simply, because they proved it. They proved themselves by winning that shining Golden cup. Winning ODI WC is not a fluke, neither is it a child’s play, rather it means that the winner of the event has competed at world level & established it’s supremacy, outclassing all other teams in the world. That is why, it is given the title of “champions” & one bad series (however horrible it may be ) CAN NOT & SHOULD NOT recede it’s glory.

However, talking about the English series, firstly one has to consider the fact the team representing India didn't even contain half the players of the WC winning squad- just 4 of them. WC star yuvi, God of cricket- Tendulkar, Bowling spearhead Zaheer- when all of them were suffering from injuries, a bunch of young inexperienced players was fighting it out on the field. To make things worse, these players didn’t even get adequate practice matches to become used to the tough English conditions. The results are disappointing indeed, I agree, but one got to feel for Indian players. Even in this situation, the young players like Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli showed their metal, displaying the quality of being promising future for a world champion team.

Now that the disastrous tour is over, its our choice whether we wanna cherish this year for the exhilarating WC victory, or for embarrassing English tour. In my opinion, Its time to stand by our heroes, time to show faith in their ability, time to wait for the recovery of Indian cricket, to wait for resurrection of champions. Remembering the words of William Wordsworth “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”

To sum up, Team India is indeed World Champion, they have proven it to the world, & will be back with a bang soon…!

As my favourite lines say:

“Embarrassment sometime, sometime pride,

Life is just a roller coaster ride;

A moment you are up, another- you are down,

If you keep on moving, you’ll get the crown

Fine..! Today the things didn't go our way,

But tomorrow shall be a yet another day…..!  “

Waiting eagerly for the return of our crowned champions….! :)