Yes we can, yes we did

On this very day, eight years ago, the man who would lead Indian cricket into the big, bad world of 21st century cricket and become their most successful leader ever, took over as captain of India.

So perhaps it was only fitting that the man who many already believe will better Souray Ganguly's record and lead India into a new era of world domination, handed the reins to Ganguly one last time, during the final rites of the Nagpur Test.

It was a gracious gesture by M.S. Dhoni, one that along with his asking the just-retired Anil Kumble to lift the Border Gavaskar Trophy, was a reflection of many things: An acknowledgement of the men who led India in some unforgettable victories, especially against Australia, a sign of the respect and affection he and the team hold them in, an awareness of the importance of symbolism in sport and finally, an understanding of the legacy he takes on.

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Pakistan provide surprise again

It’s no secret that Pakistan are an unpredictable outfit. It’s how they manage to reiterate the point time and again that never ceases to surprise.

They had to win Wednesday’s encounter to stay in contention for a place in the Asia Cup final, their coach was caught in the middle of an ugly war of words with the local media and their captain — under pressure to retain the top job — had collapsed during a fitness test before start of play.

Then, after India had elected to bat first, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir tore into their bowling attack with such ferocity that 10 overs into the day’s play, a defeat looked almost a certainty.

But this is Pakistan, the team that can never be written off.

They pulled things back after the initial onslaught to restrict the Indian total to 308 — Dhoni & Co looked set for bigger things after the torrid start — and then, they chased it down with enough conviction to leave anyone who was watching wondering why they had been written off.

Incidentally, Pakistan’s eight-wicket win has made India’s match against Sri Lanka on Thursday a virtual semi-final now. The kind of form the Lankans have been in, Dhoni & Co will have to get everything right to keep their hopes alive. A loss, on the other hand, will see Pakistan take on Lanka for the title.

Start to finish

But first, the chase. Salman Butt’s 36 off 31 balls set the ball rolling, flashes of brilliance bringing runs from both sides of the wicket. The young opener pulled and drove as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for once, hesitated in continuing any of his attacking pairs for longer than two or three over spells. Ishant Sharma, visibly exhausted, went for as many as 16 in his first over, allowing Nasir Jamshed, in the process, to settle down alongside Butt.

India’s brightest spark while resisting the chase came when Gautam Gambhir ran Butt out. Then, 10 overs later Jamshad succumbed — retired hurt to a bout of cramps, while Mohammad Yousuf was bowled round his legs by Piyush Chawla soon after.

That was as far as India got though. The openers had given their team a great start and once the platform was set, Younis Khan got his bat to do the talking until the winning runs were scored. Khan was unbeaten on 123 as Pakistan strolled to an eight-wicket victory with 27 deliveries to spare.

Dhoni’s fireworks

Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had cashed on an excellent 88-run opening stand provided by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, and despite a brief collapse, led India past the 300-mark along with Rohit Sharma.

Strengthening the middle-order has been one of the big talking points in recent times, at least as far as Dhoni goes. The Indian captain, among other things, has repeatedly spoken about finding ways to improve the run-rate between the 30th and 45th over of the innings, using innovating stroke play to get runs when the powerplays are not on and including batsmen who could stem the rot in case of a top-order collapse.

Yesterday, Dhoni himself played all those roles as India put up 308 for seven in their 50 overs.

However, as things turned out, it was never going to be enough. Not once Pakistan had decided this was the day they were going to provide the surprise.

Kapil’s English raised the ‘fun’ quotient

It turned out to be a memorable tour and the fact that we triumphed wasn't the only reason. We enjoyed ourselves on the field and during the practice sessions. There were hardly any expectations from us, and consequently, there was little or no pressure on us. Jimmy Amarnath was our pillar of strength and the idea was to bat around him. That apart, I don't think anything significant was discussed at the team meetings. The highlight of the ‘discussions’ was Kapil Dev’s insistence on speaking in English. He probably felt like doing so because we were in England. But nobody really understood what he said and that heightened the ‘fun’ quotient! We must thank Kapil for continuing to speak in English!

It was a team of ‘characters’. Sunil Gavaskar was unfortunate to share the room with me till his wife arrived and I could not help but feel that he did not score runs only because I troubled him a lot. I was nervous on the eve of our first game against the West Indies and attacked Sunil with questions. “Will I be able to see the ball?” was one of them. Sunil reminded me that I had faced the likes of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Richard Hadlee. The vibes we got from the other teams, Zimbabwe apart, at the opening ceremony weren't very positive. It was almost as if they thought we did not deserve to be there.

We went on to play excellent cricket to reach the semifinals. You are bound to succeed if you get the basics right and each of us did that.

We went into the semifinals as the underdogs. England, it appeared, had already started celebrating their entry into the final. That irritated us for we had worked very hard to reach the knockout stage. The majority felt we would be better off bowling first to enable our seamers to capitalise on the morning conditions. As it turned out, Bob Willis won the toss and elected to bat. Our seamers carried on from where they had left off. I don't think the teams took any Indian bowler, other than Kapil seriously. Balwinder Sandhu, Roger Binny, Madan Lal and Jimmy used the English conditions very well. Kirti Azad choked England in the semifinal. England got 213, which in those days was a formidable score even in a sixty-over game. The openers gave us a good start and Jimmy and Yashpal Sharma shared a fruitful stand. People give me credit for attacking the bowling towards the end but it was the Jimmy-Yashpal stand that set things up in our favour. There was a stage when Kirti, Kapil and I were padded up with the asking-rate hovering around the six-per-over mark. Sunil suggested we stick to the original order and Kapil agreed, considering we had been calm through the tournament. I went in after Jimmy's dismissal and got my timing right. We made it to the final and the rest is history. It feels great to be recognised and rewarded for the achievement after all these years. That the BCCI is doing so is the proverbial icing on the cake. It's like your father rewarding you.