By Saptarshi Nag

As the Television screen was filled with vibrant colours as the Men in Blue started celebrating the much-anticipated victory in the final of the Champions Trophy 2025, I felt moistness at the corners of my eyes. The wait had been pretty long since we last touched a trophy in the 50 over format of the game. Long enough to be longer than an era, long enough to make someone like me in his early thirties to grow older and cross the magic age of 45 which supposedly starts making a man seek the reason for his existence, search the purpose of life and transform the goal from legitimacy to legacy. As exuberant I was, I thought of not wasting a single moment to start writing something to give vent to the emotions. But the age, the experience, the philosophy restrained. The inner voice whispered, let the initial exuberance settle, let the emotions be taken over by the soundness of practicality. So, I waited.

This story of India becoming the champion in yet another ICC tournament with the white ball is just the tip of an iceberg which is so deep and so profound yet so much to learn from. I happened to see a tweet (‘X’ does not fit well here!) of Mr. Anand Mahindra where he hailed this magnificent victory of Team India by sharing the true meaning of the word ‘Champion’ from the dictionary and the word he found synonymous with this term ‘Champion’ is ‘Fighter’. What a great man Mr. Mahindra has always been! A classy, suave business tycoon with perfect understanding of what it takes to conquer. Fighter is just the apt word to describe our Blue Warriors and Mr. Mahindra’s words I found to be the perfect and the most fitting tribute to this great and once in a generation team ably led by Rohit Gurunath Sharma. 14 years back when he was being touted as one of the most talented cricketers the world has ever seen, missed the bus to the World Cup. Someone like Yusuf Pathan who was nowhere close to his talent secured a place in the squad. It was perhaps a decision which changed the Indian cricket forever. Rohit had been a prodigal guy before that. Wasted so many opportunities served on his platter because of the enormous talent he always possessed. Since then, the white ball cricket never remained the same. Rohit 2.0 had arrived after being rejected once. His style of cricket, his way of hitting the ball always made him an automatic choice for the shorter formats of the beautiful game. And that rejection made him understand the value of his own talent, something most of the youngsters of the present generation fail to do. On the 17th January of 2011, the BCCI announced the squad for the World Cup. Exactly after 13 years 5 months and 12 days, he was kissing the ICC T20 World Cup as the leader. Not just as a captain but as a leader who could show the world what he is made of. From slashing the mighty Aussies by scoring an unbelievable knock of 92 of just 41 deliveries or becoming the second highest scorer of the tournament at the ripe age of 37, Rohit Gurunath Sharma just made the circle come to a state of fullness. He was lambasted as someone unfit to play the game. Memes were shared to compare him with a pregnant lady ready to deliver. And he delivered another ICC Trophy in just a span of 9 months. Being fooled by what goes on in the popular videos around, I was apprehending that the end of an illustrious career as shining as a diamond was nearing. While I was watching his press conference after that historic victory, there was a sigh of relief in the room we were watching the show. My son an ardent follower of Rohit’s pull shots was visibly so happy! My wife and daughter were smiling in joy and I who had shared a WhatsApp status minutes ago like ‘Tussi mat jao, Rohit’ could not hold back my tears. A character like him must stay as long his body permits. His talent will take care of the rest. He will be the quintessential figurative image of ‘Baptism by Fire’.
We have heard of the unconquerable West Indians in those two celebrated decades of the 70s and 80s. Pitches used to be something like an orphan child, unshovelled, left at the mercy of some unerudite groundsmen. They were ruling the roost. Garnes, Holding, Croft, Roberts or the late entrants like Malcom Marshall crushed the opponents simply by terrifying them by their sheer pace, attitude and the belief in themselves. They were backed by their legendary leaders like Lloyd or Holding. They were invincible. They were unplayable. The cricket world used to shake in fear in just the thought of facing such a never seen before bowling attack. There was no helmet. No pitch protection. There were beamers targeted to break your skull. There was no maximum bouncer rule. Yet, there was a 21-year-old prodigious Indian guy less than 165 centimetres in heigh who decided to thwart the unfathomable challenge, to turn things around. With just his pads, gloves, a headband and a signature white cap, he went to make history by scoring 774 runs in the series and making sure that his side win a match. India went on to defeat West Indies in that historic test series which may be forgotten because of the lack of interest of the present generation in the history of cricket but will forever be etched in the hearts of every lover of this beautiful game. It was the first historic evident when the Indians ever posed a challenge to the outer world. Already the 1962 and 1965 wars were lost. India as a country was looking for that shimmering line of hope. And the first little master from India gave 75 crore Indians that hope. 1971 victory against Pakistan and liberating an unthankful nation like Bangladesh followed. When we all watched the legendary Gavaskar dancing like a kid even at the age of 75, all those memories came back. The short-sighted ones will begin with the example of Sourav Ganguly or Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but the erudite will always look back at the history books. Why was he dancing like that? Deep down inside the legend, the first GOAT from India could feel that there was a team as invincible as the one he made his debut against had arrived. He was dancing not just to celebrate a victory. He was dancing to express that a team has arrived in the arena of world cricket, as mighty as the great West Indians in their Golden Age which he himself had combatted and defied by winning his debut series 1- nil in favour if his own country. As a brilliant commentator, he witnessed the rise of the invincible Aussies in every format of the game. But as an astute reader of the game, he was certain that the supremacy of this Indian side at least in the white ball format is here to stay. Just like the West Indians in those two decades or the Men in Yellows in the following two. His dance portrayed the arrival of the Men in Blues as the invincible, unconquerable, indefatigable white ball side this world of cricket has ever witnessed. Thank you, Gavaskar Sir for reminding us the true value of emotions.
To be continued…