By: Tahir Qureshi
Cricket is not only a game for Indians rather it is an emotion which is instilled in the heart of every countryman. Indian cricket team is known as one of the best teams in the world across all the formats. The team has achieved numerous milestones in the past and also faced various challenges and adversities but continued the legacy of the great Kapil Dev (the winning captain of India’s maiden world cup in 1983).
The team saw ups and downs and always displayed a character of resilience and perseverance over the years which ultimately led them to win T20 world cup 2024. This long and arduous odyssey of the Indian Cricket Team is characterized by determination, resilience, patience and an untiring commitment to excellence.
Indian won its first world cup in the year 1983 under the visionary captain Kapil Dev and defeated the then world champion West Indies in the final and also broke their streak of winning two consecutive world cups. Since then there was no notable achievement by the team till leading the charge of captaincy by Sourav Ganguly in the year 2000. He proved himself a great leader who ushered the team to the stairs of success. Ganguly introduced the power of resilience among his teammates and imbibed a winning spirit in their characters. People held high expectations from the young man as some stalwarts of the game like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan were playing under his captaincy. He met the expectations of Indians by winning the Champions Trophy (2002) with his star studded team. It was a glorious chapter in the history of Indian Cricket because India won an ICC trophy after a gap of nineteen years.
It is said that ‘every rise has a fall’ and it proved true when Indian Cricket Team couldn’t perform good after Ganguly’s stepping down from captaincy. This was really a tough period for Indian Cricket as the team couldn’t qualify even the group stage of ODI world cup (2007). It lacked a leader who could steer the team in the right direction and could infuse winning spirit among the players who were the epitome of talent and skills.
Eventually there was turning of the tide as India won the inaugural t20 world cup in 2007 by beating the arch rival Pakistan. It was a momentous achievement for the young Indian team which was led by a young captain, Mahinder Singh Dhoni. India achieved this remarkable feat under the leadership of M.S. Dhoni, the man who everything touched turned to gold. Indians would always remember the indelible contributions and achievements of Dhoni, the greatest captain ever in the history of Indian Cricket. His captaincy is a testament of his leadership qualities and hunger for success. His tenure proved to be a golden era in the history of Indian Cricket as he won many accolades for Indian Cricket Team.
Under his captaincy team India ruled over the world cricket in the decade (2007 to 2017). Besides winning t20 world cup in 2007, the winning of ODI World Cup (2011) and Champions Trophy (2013) also accredited to his name as he was leading the team when these milestones achieved. Since his stepping down from captaincy in the year 2017, Indian cricket team couldn’t earn any major title in ICC tournaments despite having the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
Even the experts of the game apprehended that Indian Cricket Team turned to a choker as it qualified for various finals but couldn’t lift any trophy. This period witnessed some memorable finals team India played like Champions Trophy final (2017), World Test Championship final (2021) World Test Championship final (2023) and ODI World Cup final (2023) but none of them can be conquered by the men in blue. It doesn’t signify that there was a decline of Indian Cricket, had it been so the team wouldn’t have secured number one spot in the ICC rankings across all the formats and also it wouldn’t have played numerous finals of ICC trophies over the years.
Team India always believed in hard work, diligence and consistent performance which eventually paid them when they won T20 World Cup 2024 by defeating South Africa in the final. India lifted this trophy only after displaying an abundance of patience, perseverance, resilience and endurance.
One can assess the significance of winning this title by Indian Cricket Team only after watching them bursting into tears of happiness after this historic victory. Team India achieved this triumph under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, the man who put all his efforts behind this victory. The team conquered the battlefield after the drought of eleven years of not winning an ICC trophy nevertheless many times reaching closer to it. Indeed this team scripted history and broke the streak of their losing the ICC tournaments final in the recent past.
After lifting the trophy Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, two stalwarts of Indian Cricket Team, announced retirement from T20 Internationals. It was an emotional occasion for every Indian to bid farewell to these two heroes whose contributions to Indian Cricket will be remembered by generations to come.
There probably won’t be a better occasion for them to bid goodbye to the shorter format of cricket after lifting the trophy and accomplishing their dreams. Emotions were running high in Barbados when these two all-time greats of the game signed off from T20s after the T20 World Cup triumph. Both the gentlemen contributed a lot to modern Indian Cricket and earned prestige and honor worldwide. They brought fame and glory for their Nation and for their fellow countrymen as well. At this juncture the whole Nation pays tribute to them for their unparalleled services to the Nation.
After the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma the Indian Cricket Team requires to display their talent to the world as it was done in the past by their predecessors. They need to emerge as a dominant force in world cricket by showing patience and perseverance. This new generation of Indian Cricket is loaded with talent and skills as their individual brilliance always assists in developing the ethos of fearlessness and tenacity in the team. We hope that the current Indian Cricket Team would carry forward this legacy in future and would always brought smile on the faces of their countrymen by ascending the stairs of success.
The writer is Assistant Professor in J&K Higher Education Department. Email: [email protected]
Kashmir Images is an English language daily newspaper published from Srinagar (J&K), India. The newspaper is one of the largest circulated English dailies of Kashmir and its hard copies reach every nook and corner of Kashmir Valley besides Jammu and Ladakh region.
