...and history was made...

Well, by this tym, every cricket crazy blogger would have dedicated a post or 2 as an ode to our men in blue. Well, here are my 2 chawanniyaan..

The first thot that came to my mind when I read about the fab 3 opting out of the tournament was, oh ! great, atleast our feilding will improve, but then again, if we have youngsters like myself or, for that matter Romesh Powar, I thought again. Anyway, he was not included and neither was I, so this story ends here.

At the end of the tournament, Dhoni mentioned that no one gave his men any chance, n i shamefully admit dat i was one of them. Our juggernaut continued to roll, and we kept on winning, with just 1 pit stop. Pummeling England, halting the proteas and thrashing (15 runs in this format is thrashing guys..esp if its against) the aussies.

The green brigade lost to their arch rivals in a match to determine the leader of a group, a group who no one was giving a damn. A group, whose participants were being thot of, as teams to fill in the
7th and the 8th spots for the super 8's.
This loss somehow injected a new life into this team, they marched into the finals with thumping authority, destroying the ever improving Sri Lankans, the mighty Australians, the giant killers - Bangladesh and the high flying kiwis.

On 24th of september 2007, 5:30 pm IST, 2 nations were quite.. very quite.. glued to their tv sets, their radio sets or
whatever piece of media they cud lay their hands on, to witness history.

It was India versus Pakistan and no one could have scripted a bigger finish to the tournament.
No one expected a final featuring these 2 teams. A final featuring best 2 teams of the tournament.

Dhoni wins the toss, and elects to bat on a placid track.

No Veeru in the team.. I'm not sure - to be happy or remorseful for team India cuz Veeru has been
as mercurial as k series ki vamp throughout this tournament (like always).

Dad is back from work, oh ! no.. how messy the house is(thanks to moi), anyway, he's too excited about the match so he doesn't pay much heed to the trash. Asif starts the proceedings for Pakistan, n Gautam Gambhir takes guard against him. Gambhir pushes the first ball into the covers and runs straight away, Yusuf Pathan hestates but responds to his partner's call. Malik throws the ball to the striker's end, the keeper collects it and whips the bails off,
the Pakistanis are confident, that they have got their man, but the replays show that he's just in. Pathan after missing a ball,
hits Asif for a straight six, so, Sehwag's ommision is a boon in disguise for team India after all,
but,
Pathan gets out in pursuit
of quick runs. The Indian innings just seemes to fall apart, after that. Uthappa
gets out trying to
break the shackles. Yuvraj, the man who got India into the finals is slowed down by the spinners. Gul hustles in and hurls them from sky and Yuvi is all at sea.
He is soon taken out of his misery. So are we.
I get up to open the door, and hear a huge roar and a commentator screaming something at the top of his voice. As mum enteres, she enquired about the score n dad says in an i-told-you-so manner.. "Dhoni out." What ?? How ?? He can't be, he was the one we had our hopes rested
upon. What now ?? Will we get to 150 ??

I forgot that we still had batting to follow and a little man was still there, weaving a majestic innings for his team. Gautam Gambhir is still there on 62 and Rohit Sharma has joined him. But still, Gambhir won't be able to hit Gul or Asif. He's a small man, and these guys are quick !! Rohit is new to the crease and to the international arena, they won't be able to post a competitve score.. would they?? Thank god, it's not a Friday!

17 overs gone, and 120 on the board.. damn... we shouldn't lose this one.. Gul steams in..
Gambhir lines this one up and hits it baseball style over the leg side. A Powerful drive over the leg side and the ball thuds into the scoreboard. Oh ! great, that eases some pressure.. 130 in 17.5 , we should reach 150 from here on.. Gambhir facing Gul.. plays a cheaky shot to short fine leg and Asif accepts a simple catch gleefully over there. 18 gone, 130 on the board,
and more importantly, Gambhir out.

What..?? Gambhir out too..?? We need atleast 160, else this is gonna be a cake walk for them. Yasir Arafat bowls in the 19th over, he should be targetted, this has to be THE over.. 2 full tosses, and 2 sparkling fours.. ahh.. 160.. please, god, 160.. End of 19th and we're stuck at 143.

The wrong footed Tanveer comes in to bowl the final 6 deliveries. 19.1 and its 145/5. A slower delivery.. the ball loops up towards the boundary, Hafeez is there and should take it ... No! He gets both hands to it, but ends up palming the ball over the ropes... its a SIX !

ahh.. we get to 157. A respectable total.


After anxious 10-15 mins the Pakistanis walk-in to bat.

RP Singh is in fine bowling form. 5th bowl of his 1st over, Singh to Hafeez, OUT ! RP Singh follows up the fullish delivery with one back of a length, getting it to move away every so slightly and Hafeez, with minimal footwork, is tempted into a dab outside off stump only to see the outside-edge fly into Uthappa's safe hands at slip! India breakthrough. Oh ! man that psychopath has the bowl. He has to be good, or we'll lose the match here and now. Four followed by a six and another four. You stoopid fellow, all the hard work put in to score those 14 runs, u've given them away in just 3 deliveries. Another 4 to end the over. Damn ! Singh to Kamran Akmal, OUT, cleaned up! He misjudged the bounce and he's out ! Sreesanth bowls a maiden.
woah.. what ?? how ??

We want Nazir. He is taking the game away from us. Its already 53 and we are only half way through the 5th over. Oh ! great, things don't look good for Nazir, the groin injury he was carrying from the semi finals is surfacing again.Younis eases into a nice offdrive and calls for the run towards mid-off, Nazir is late to react, Uthappa swoops in, and hits the stumps. He's out !

Younis and Malik are scoring in singles and getting the odd boundary, and Joginder Sharma with his gentle medium pace comes in to bowl his 2nd over. Joginder bowls a fuller delivery and immediately gets Younis to go over the top. No power in the shot, and Yusuf pouches an easy catch. Out comes Misbah. We have to get him. He has got the Pakistanis home more often than not, in this tournament. The runs have dried up. 11 over gone and its just 76/4. Pathan to Malik, short of a good length bowl, it doen't come on the bat that well and Malik is caught at mid wicket. ohh wow ! Malik out.. but is this a blessing in disguise for them ?? Out walks Afridi. Battle of the pathans. plz, god, plz, the one in blue should win this battle. First bowl, a bouncer, declared as a wide. Second ball.. fullish and outside the off stump, Afridi gives it everything, but it takes the bottom of the bat and the ball loops up in the air.. someone get under it, plz.. plz... oh ! its Shreesanth under it.. plz for god's sake.. dun think about slicing a batsman with a pocket knife for a few moments and catch the ball. yahooooooooooooooooo he catches the ball. It's almost over now, for them. If only we get Misbah.. 4overs since the last wicket. They have accumulated 26 runs and have lost Arafat in pursuit. Misbah has the tail to bat with him. It is a daunting task for them now. Bhajji comes in for his 3rd over and 17th over of the innings. it's a six.. Misbah clears his foot and heaves the ball over midwicket.. he declines the single of the 4th ball of the over.. haa.. he thinks he'll hit both these balls out of the ground.. Misbah lines it up and clatters the 5th ball into the stands over midwicket.. and another one.. 6 of the last ball too.. 17 gone and its 123/7. Ohh great.. Tanveer is on strike. This should be the match for us. First ball, Shreesanth bowls a fullish delivery on the off stump and Tanveer flicks it for a six ! And another one.. same ball, same shot ! Last ball of his over.. Its just 20 to get from 2.1 overs.
This match is Pakistan's for the losing. Only some miracle can save India, now. A quick yorker on the off stump. Tanveer loses his off stump but he's got 12 from only 4 balls and done hit bit. Its 138/8 at the end of 18.
You moron, Shreesanth..
you've cost us the match.. A match that was our's for the taking.
Dhoni calls in Singh to bowl the 19th over. A good tactic.
There might not be a 20th over if he
doesn't bowl, NOW.

A very good over till now. 17 needed from 8. Gul to face Singh.. Leg-stump yorker from RP.. too good for Gul as he loses his leg stump.

come on RP.. don't leave this to the last over.. get him out. You have 1 delivery and no. 11 facing.. an attempted yorker outside the off stump.. Asif pokes at it and gets a 4. A priceless boundary to end the penultimate over. 13 of 6 now. Joginder Sharma, it is.. he has to replicate his heroics, once again. A wide to start of with.. and a SIX of the 2nd ball.. just 6 required of 4.. damn.. !!

Sometimes it all comes down to one decision, just 1 whiz-bang moment upon which everything rests..

should i peep into my neighbour's answer sheet ??

should i leave this chapter for tomorrow ??

should i say i love you ??

should i play an Ashraful ??

It was this whiz-bang decision onto which Misbah arrived after a masterful batting display.

He goes for the scoop shot over short fine-leg the ball loops up in the air. The hearts of 2 nations stop beating for what seems like eternity before the ball comes down and Shreesanth pouches it.

1 minor mistake by Misbah separated them from history, 1 minor error after a masterful display of batting for nearly an hour, just 1 minor mistake... but why in the blue hell should i tok about that..screw it.. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON and thus was born a knock knock joke :D

Knock-knock !

who's there ?

Misbah.

Misbah who ?

Miss bah 5 runs. :D :D