I knew it!

Guys, can't help it! I knew today was the all important cricket match between India and Australia. But, driven by my past experiences I had stopped taking cricket matches seriously. Umpteenth time I have witnessed India losing from a winning position. The heartache has been that the margin of runs were in single digits. The heart attack has been that Australia has the feat of defeating India in close encounters most number of times. Do you know that they defeated us by 1 run in WC 1987 and WC 1992 ?

Today's match was a cult classic. 351 to chase, no motivation to watch second innings for me. Previous memories still afresh! I have hardly missed a match from 1993 till 2006. It was then that a phenomenon called Dhoni gripped the nervous strings all by himself and began to steer us to victory all by himself. He was instrumental in instilling that 'go for kill' attitude in the team. He took burden from Sachin's shoulders and soon we could see a transformation in the side.

The Dhoni bubble burst aided by the non-stop play schedule. Fantastic players like Yuvraj and Raina hogged the limelight. But still, none of them had the spark to carry the team to victory single-handedly. I know many will object, but I have seen these players perishing on the doorsteps of victory when the onus was exclusively on them. The master blaster Sachin has always asserted the vintage class supremacy time and again. Dhoni though, has come close to matching the tag of 'One Man Army'.

It was one such day, when Tendulkar again, decided to make this match his own. He played straight drive, pull, chip, square-cut, flick and that 'running down the crease inside out' shot. Everything was going right. The God had revisited. He completed the century and pursued for another. It was time for dinner.

The Mess, a packed house accommodating 300 people at once. Two 29 inch flat TVs on two sides. Hardly a spare seat to sit. The crowd howling "Sachin... Sachin...." at every ball. The old phenomena was back. Spectacular shots delivering boundaries at astoundingly quick intervals is no mean task. Ricky Ponting could be seen crouching on his knees, helpless in front of 'God'. We know God helps those who helps themselves. Yes, the team was required to steer itself towards the target. Sachin left the 22 yards, may be a rush of blood instigated by the power play enforced him. By then, he had scored 175 odd runs. What more do one expect ?

There were 4 wickets left and 19 runs to score off 17 balls. But the old disease grappled our batsmen and we lost it by 3 runs. The match was memorable because it livened up memories of the 'old' Tendulkar though the unchanging habit of losing close matches did hurt.