Power went out again for couple of hours on a steamy Sunday morning. My father's take - the Electricity Grid folks are tuning up their system to ensure uninterrupted power supply for this afternoon's One day Cricket match between the arch rivals of India and Pakistan. He was probably correct. The game got multiple interruptions due to rain, but the power supply for the entire duration of match stayed uninterrupted.
Certain small things give me the biggest pleasure in my life. They are - Scratching private parts on a hot, humid day, a long satisfying fart and watching India defeat Pakistan, whether a Cricket or Hockey game (A defeat by Gandhi family led Congress comes a close second). Just the Opposite happens when the role is reversed. A defeat of India by Pakistan creates a morbid, depressing feeling.
During my growing up days, the later used to happen more frequently. India's loss to Pakistan in cricket (in Hockey as well) was a norm, a rule rather than an exception. Their fast bowlers Imran and Akram would destroy our batting, their batsmen Miandad, Salim Malik and Saeed Anwar would smash us into pulp.
It happened too often for comfort, to the chagrin and frustration of the cricket fan in me. India could never come out of the jinx of getting hit out off the ropes by the famous last ball six by the mercurial Paki batsman Miandad off Chetan Sharma's delivery in April, 1986.
So much so that, there was only a solitary victory of India over Pakistan until November of 1991. After a brief blip in the radar, our losing streak continued in Harjah (Sarjah, as sarcastically called then, ascribed to us getting frequently vanquished by our next door neighbor in that venue).
Since then India has come a long way. Its players no more capitulate under pressure. Rewind back to the years of 1980s and 90s. India facing a virulent Pakistani attack. The body language of the Indian batsmen, their apparent nervousness visible from their sweat beads. It was not the prickling humid heat of the subcontinent, rather the steamy, pressure cooker atmosphere which caused swearing. India struggles and after Sachin Tendulkar gets out, the rest make a beeline to the dressing room.
Now fast forward to 2017. Under the same situation, Kohli and Yuvraj at crease showed hardly any visible sign of nervousness. They looked determined and played some sensible cricket under the circumstances, guiding India to victory. Our Achilles Heels of the lack of aggressiveness and crumbling under pressure is now a thing of past. What matter more, the fighting spirit, professionalism and killer instinct of our cricketers have increased many fold.
Nothing ever gets India united and brings out the patriotism more than this game called cricket. It's arguably the only instance, at least for a day, we don't see ourselves as a Punjabi, Marathi, Tamil or Odia when India wins a cricket match against our obsessive neighbor, but rejoice as Indians.
Such is the passion of the game, it's either flowers or brickbats as far as fans go. Let's enjoy the flowers for now while our determination doesn't wilt, as you never know when the brickbats would follow. Congratulations Team India, good luck for rest of the tournament.
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