India's T20 debacle

The big money bonanza IPL fondly known as INDIAN PAISA LEAGUE although its actual name being INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE had just concluded and India's largest religion- CRICKET FOLLOWERS were still addicted to the shortest format, the T20. The T20 world cup at the West Indies was received well in India thanks to the hype created by the media. The expectations were high on the Indian team, champions of the inaugral T20 world cup.
India's first match against the amateurs Afganistan was a cakewalk for the men in blue. TN opener M.Vijay had a decent match and so was Raina. Well, practically the first match for India was against the proteas at st.lucia. It was a fantastic contest on the cards. M.S.Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first. India's openers including the IPL star(though he scored only in 2 matches) M.Vijay failed to trouble the scorers leaving India in a spot of bother. Then the repair works started and went on very well as Raina scored a classy ton. A marvellous century. India posted a decent target and the Indian bowlers did a neat job to win the game for India. This was the only decent and a face saving match for India. For the next couple of days the media was upto its usual job of blowing things out of proportion and calling the men in blue "THE STRONG CONTENDERS FOR THE CUP". Our next game was against the aussies. Again a thrilling contest, but none knew it would be a horror movie for india. The batsmen got literally raped and molested by the lethal pace trio of Australia namely M.Johnson, S.Tait and D.Nannes . It clearly showcased our weakness against shortpitched bowling. India's test opener Gambhir too fell prey to stuff near the nose which is a serious concern. The same tactic was adopted by the host too in the next game. The Windies learnt from the aussies how to tame the famed Indian batting line-up. It was a dismal batting performance by the Indians and it cost the game for India. Now, to the media, the strong contenders became the most weak side in the world. Kudos to the news channels. India, now was facing a serious threat of forefeiting their semis birth. The equations and the number games started rolling out. India had to win the Lankans by a margin of 20 runs or 2 overs to advance to the semis assuming that Windies lose to the aussies. Even now, the "enthupattanies" were still keeping their fingers crossed and were hoping to see India in a semifinal fixture. I was one amongst the millions who watched the match against Sri Lanka hoping to see India win by the required margin even though my inner conscience kept telling me "Go and sleep..you know we cant win..". Finally as usual my inner conscience ended up winning and India ended up losing. Our 4th debacle in an ICC tournament. Moral of the story: In any format of the game you need to have your techniques strong. Only if your techniques are strong you can be a successful cricketer in all the versions. Especially to face the raising deliveries you need to know the textbook.
Lets hope to see India emerging the world champions in the 2011 ODI world cup. Probably Sachin's last world cup. The perfect gift to a master who gave a new dimension to batting and Indian cricket. A genius who brought about smiles in a million faces. An icon who carries the burdens of a billion everytime he walks into the field. To sum it up i call him "THE GOD of CRICKET" .