It seemed that India refused to be beaten in this 2011 World Cup. India found the men willing to do so and each victory from the quarter final has still to be grasped leave alone the World Cup Final. And this final victory march against Sri Lanka showed as though all the incomplete notes of the previous matches of this India's World Cup performance fell into sync.
No words can express the kind of chase India did, especially after being down at 31/2. The partnership of 109 between Gambhir and Dhoni in 19.4 overs at the rate of 5.54 runs per over sealed India's Glory at the helm. To promote himself ahead of the the inform Yuvi and Sunil Raina, Dhoni has done himself and his countrymen a yeoman service taking calculated risk by defying Murali and Malinga, taking on Perera and Kulasekara was a joy to watch. In the process, one can say that he has preserved a big knock for India, especially the one that will count for many many years to come.
The final six that he lashed against Kulasekara was a fitting reply to Sanga who raised lots of eyebrows after having lost the toss initially. Though the toss drama has been put in the back burner, to me, it was a blessing in disguise since the pitch played perfectly for the entire 100 overs.
While Dhoni had constantly reminded everyone during the post match presentation that Indians were not good fielders, yet in the game that really wanted the fielders to step up at this crucial juncture and must have saved atleast 20 runs in the process.
Not to forget about Gambhir, who along with Dhoni shouldered India's victory. He produced his most convincing performance to lift India from the shock of losing their openers. He was central to two partnerships - one with Kolhi of 83 runs at 5.35 runs per over and the other with his skipper.
Sri Lanka on the other hand, fell to the world cup final pressure. They could not convert what India did - Convert pressure into responsibility and fell prey to this deep India batting line up. At the end, Murali had still 2 overs left and Dilsha, who was bowling very very well, had another 5 overs left. When India lost Gambir to Perera, Sanga still opted for Perera and Indians were leaking runs. When India took the batting powerplay, Sanga failed to look into Murali and rather opted for Kulasekara and India started to move ahead in those phase.
As Dhoni put it in the most match conference " Right now we can close the chapter. We need to build a team again. Because of the amount of cricket we play, we need a few reserve players to come in and bowl. We need spinners and batsmen to the at their best because if we want to do well at the international level, we will have to try quite a few players and not think about the result". Well, Dhoni, you hit the nail. India's glory chapter will not end as long as you are there!!!
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