WonderWands: Dreams Unlimited

It was a typical Indian summer noon – hot and humid in the city of Dreams, Mumbai. Out came the two wicketkeeper-captains: M.S.Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara.

9 hours later – The nation would erupted. Cricket here is nothing less than a religion and one man..or should I say one GOD was at the epicentre of the storm. He defied all odds, against different hurdles, and he has been doing it for 22 years.

This was HIS Dream.

He entered his own den. The crowd went on..SACHIN..SACHIN ..Dhak Dhak Dhak !! SACHIN..SACHIN !! One could feel the passion in every hear beat, and there was this little man who looked determined. Chasing a mammoth 275 under lights, he saw his aggressive ally Virender Sehwag fall on the second ball of the inning. He bowed down. Does he have enough resources. He always trusted his team mates and he will continue doing so. He wanted this badly, wasn’t this what he had been waiting for 22 long years? Wasn’t this the only ammunition missing in his armoury? After some mouth watering cover drives and on drives he fell. A skiddy ball from his own Mumbai Indians team mate Lasith Malinga found the edge and was pocketed by the wily Sangakkara. Collective silence. Was this the Beginning of the End?

The nation mourned.

The tournament’s top scorer – Thilakaratne Dilshan had a kind of fire in his eyes, you expect from fighting lions. The ball was tossed into his hands when the Teenage Sensation turned Mature Lad - Virat Kohli and Mr.Consistent Street Fighter- Gautham Gambhir were going strong. He flipped it tight and his killer instincts made him go for a Lion-like leap to catch the ball. A brave soldier departed.

The Lion had its prey.

What the lion didn’t expect was a Tiger, a tiger equally determined on capturing the jungle. The tiger – M.S.Dhoni pushed himself up ahead of his friend and team mate – Yuvraj who had a dream tournament thus far. The crowd buzzed. Why was he doing this? What if he fails again? Has he gone mad? Tongues wagged as he made his way to the pitch with a willow in his hand. He looked like a hunter, but will it turn out to be a case of the hunter being hunted? CRACK!! 30 minutes in the middle and there it was – A booming six over point. An improvised version of his wristy Copter shot.

He was driven by that Dream

BOOM went the ball over long on. This was it – the moment 1.2 Billion Indians waited for over 28 years. Emotions ran high all across the nation. A 38 year old ran into the ground jumping and hopping. The aggressive Surd in Harbhajan ‘Bhajji’ Singh cried like a 2 year old. 15 men who BLED BLUE for the past 43 days hugged each other. Every drop of INDIAN BLUE formed the mighty Indian Ocean. The crowd roared – India..INDIA..Sachin..Sachin !! This was It. The final frontier some may say, but this was more than a match. This was more than a contest. This was more than life.

It was a Dream.

From Kanyakumari to Kashmir. From Chennai to Chandigarh. From Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh. Indians all across were BLEEDING BLUE. Forget the elections, forget the scams, forget the controversies, forget the troubles and forget the corruptions. The nation celebrated like a NATION. “We are the Champions”.

A member of the 1983 winning team – Ravi Shastri knew he couldn’t delay the inevitable. He couldn’t stop destiny. “I won’t stop you one second more. The cup is yours” he announced to roaring cheers from the crowd. Dhoni went up to the stage, where the ICC president Sharad Powar was waiting with the cup – the cup that counts. [Click] This frame will be played on forever, and believe me no one will get tired. Dhoni lifted the cup high amidst fireworks, champagne and millions of bits of papers, which wanted to fall on the cup and on the team members. Everyone wanted to be a part of this dream.

The Dream was now a reality!