World Cup 2003 Nostalgia- My Earliest Memories of The Game

        

With the biggest show of cricket on earth underway, the excitement level of ardent cricket fans like me is already soaring. We are looking forward to a great tournament and some spectacular display of cricketing prowess over the next month and a half in the birthplace of cricket. World Cups are always special and here in India Cricket World Cups have the potential to literally halt the nation.

So my earliest world cup memories go back to the year 2003 and I am sure many of the people of my age group would agree with me on this. You always need something massive, something important or some fascinating connection to develop an interest in any area, particularly in your young age. Cricket WC 2003 gave that spark to most cricket followers of my generation. A spark that turned into devotion and has since resulted in our endless love and passion for the game. The tournament in itself was special, memorable and hugely popular in ways more than one.  Among the many reasons one being that for the first time the tournament was being played on African soil. The high spirit of the land and the enthralling African euphoria were awaiting the cricket fans. Our team played exceptionally well- we had some great performances, we handed Pakistan a customary WC defeat and our Master Blaster was at his sublime best all through the tournament, barring the final. Oh, the final! Well, we all have our memories to share about that game and the tournament, but we would talk about that later.

How can you talk of cricket in 90’s and 2000’s and don’t talk of Australia. Well, the kangaroos were at their flawless best during that period of time, ruthlessly hunting down any opposition that came their way. Particularly from 1999 to 2003- a period that started with a World Championship and perhaps ended with the same. I would personally rate this period as the Golden Period of Australian Cricket- although there might be differing opinions regarding the same. Well, they used to win matches before that as well and they won matches after that- in fact they even went on to win the next edition of WC in 2007 but believe me the team that represented Australia in 2003 was somewhere at a different level of cricket. It was an era of Australian excellence, dominance, mercilessness, fierce killer instinct and usual surrender from the oppositions- the features that you would commonly relate to the Aussie Brand of Cricket.

Going into the championship, the world champions Australians were the obvious favorites with the firepower in their squad and their incredible form. They were however jolted at the very start of the tournament when Shane Warne was sent home a day before their first game after a positive drug test. The Indian team had its own share of problems like lack of consistency and some of their key players being out of form. We of course had the potential- an immensely talented batting line up, formidable bowlers and good fielders but the recent performances and India’s dismal record in the past world cups were the possible threats. It was to be seen how India would overcome all this.

It was a very long tournament- group stage followed by Super Six, Semifinals and Finals which meant that only the Semi Finals and Finals were eliminators and the teams got enough chances to survive. There were two groups- India was in group A alongside Australia, Pakistan, England, Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Namibia. India made a shaky start and looked far from convincing in the initial part of the tournament. They managed a 68 runs win over Netherlands, where they got out for just 204 and were thrashed badly by Australia in their next game. Of course, the batting did not seem to be clicking and bowling looked toothless. Many experts and analysts had already started to write off the Indian team in the World Cup. But, as has been the beauty of uncertainty of Indian cricket, India’s campaign gradually picked up and the plans started to be executed well. The winning streak started against Zimbabwe where we won by 83 runs and most importantly Sachin Tendulkar- India’s star for the tournament found form with the bat. The next game against minnows Namibia was a one sided affair- with Sachin and Ganguly giving Namibian bowlers some bowling lessons for their lives and sending them to all parts of the park. India won the game by a massive margin of 181 runs.

In tournaments like these you need defining moments of upliftment or something hugely inspirational coming your way that acts as an ignition to charge your team up for the championship. The same perhaps happened with India in its last two group encounters- against England and the biggest of them all against Pakistan. The game against England will mostly be remembered for one of India’s greatest world up performances by Ashish Nehra. The southpaw took full advantage of the overcast conditions in Durban. He came, he swung and he decimated the English batting- finishing the match with 6 wickets for 23 runs and handing India a highly confidence boosting 82 runs win.

The most memorable win however came three days later in what turned out to be one of the most cherished triumphs in Indian cricketing history. Pakistan won the toss and came in to bat in a jam packed Centurion Park. They scored a healthy total of 273 and considering the intense pressure of the game, it was perhaps more than difficult to chase it down. But little did they know that something incredible was about to happen. A genius like Tendulkar when in full flow becomes unstoppable and all you can do is to watch him in awe and appreciation. This happened to Pakistan that day. Tendulkar played one of the best innings of his life and one of the most important ones as well. He was flawless, ruthless and was next to perfection- a typical Tendulkar performance. Though he missed out on a century, his 98 runs of 75 balls proved to be a match winning knock and India won comfortably by 6 wickets. More importantly, it was after this win that India started to get a feeling of winning the cup and it was safe to say that the world cup campaign was on the right track.

Australia on the other hand were performing in the usual Australian manner- annihilating all their oppositions one after the other. They comfortably won all their group matches- only against England did they get some resistance. The super six was also a cake walk for the Kangaroos and finally they defeated Sri Lankans in the semi final to make it to the World Cup finals for the 3^rd time in a row. India- who were in top quality form by then beat Kenya by 6 wickets, Sri Lanka by 183 runs and New Zealand by 7 wickets to make it to the Semis. The Semi Final against Kenya was a special one- special mention to Kenya which was the first associate team ever to make it to the WC semifinals. India however ended their campaign beating them by 91 runs with Ganguly scoring a splendid hundred. India thus it made to their second WC final and set up a clash for the title with the mighty Kangaroos. 

        

 It was indeed an extraordinary achievement- after all very few had actually given the Men in Blue a fair chance to come this far in the tournament. India’s performances had grown from strength to strength as the tournament progressed and the cricket world stood up and appreciated this brilliant turnaround. It was like a sweet dream- as an Indian cricket fan would fondly remember. It was now just about one game, one good day, one more upset and India would be the World Champions.

It was not to be however. The dreams were shattered and a great campaign ended in a rather anti climatic manner. The Australians were at the peak of their game on the day of the Finals. Ricky Ponting stood in Johannesburg like a mountain and was given terrific support by Damien Martyn. Australia ended up with 359 for 2 and in those days with such a total to chase you were practically out of the contest. The little hopes that India had were dashed the moment when our trump card Tendulkar got out in the very first over of the chase.  Sehwag and Dravid showed some resilience, but they perhaps had too much to do. Australia were truly clinical and the margin of 125 run victory shows that they were playing in a different zone altogether. It was heart break for a billion Indians back home and all across the globe- it was a massively popular tournament and the interest gradually increased as India progressed through. Fans were taken aback- the kind of feeling you get when a lovely dream comes to an end. Given India’s comeback journey in the WC, it was no less than a dream after all.

Whenever cricket experts sit down and try to list down Indian cricket’s defining moments WC 2003 almost always makes the cut. It was indeed unforgettable for India- they did not win the cup but they surely won millions of hearts. Sachin was impeccable all through the tournament and was awarded the Man of the Tournament for his whopping 673 runs tally. His innings against Pakistan is arguably the greatest world cup innings ever played and his famous six off Shoaib Akhtar over Deep Third man is an iconic visual of Indian cricketing history. Sourav Ganguly further established himself as a supreme leader and gave India a belief that we could face any opposition and do well even in multinational tournaments. His trust and investment in young guns like Yuvraj, Sehwag, Kaif, Harbhajan and Zaheer paid dividends in the years to follow and went on to define the entire next generation of Indian Cricket.

As a cricket fan, for me it was an awesome and unforgettable World Cup. It gave memories that will remain etched in my mind forever. I started loving the game, started to read more and began following the game closely. This love for cricket has been the same since then. The team that played in 2003 was not just a team but an emotion for me- it gave me childhood memories that would never fade. I can never forget this tournament in which we started off badly, were being heavily panned and then delivered superb performances to remember for years before the dream run finally ended. So many ups and downs…much like life, isn’t it?

Thank You Men in Blue for all the memories…all the good times… all the happiness!!