First things first, the thirsty audience sick of anti-climax finale had a heartfill after the rendering provided by both the teams. Suspense, agony, joy, every emotions must have been emoted by the millions watching this great clash of the traditional rivals. No match would get as much attention as those between India – Pakistan in Asian circles and England – Australia in the remaining parts of the cricketing world.

Fresh in the minds of all the cricket lovers let me not recapitulate the entire match, this match will remain etched in the minds of all the fans for years to come. Several moments of awe & glory expressed by both the team players could have been missed by many watchers, but for the knowledgeable few, it could not have passed up.

Afridi and Younis never showed any remorse after throwing down their wickets, Kamran was only too pleased to walk back after being through the thick of things for a while. Could anyone explain why the three most senior players of the team were rather cool about the whole thing! I initially thought it was the conditioned mind. Later it dawned on me, they cared little about the outcome, and they were probably too tired of doing the resuscitating act and left it to the young brigands. Though Kamran might find it difficult to continue in the team, the other two have to be permanent fixtures for some more time. The other senior member who took the flight to SA for the championship, the flamboyant, explosive and Rawalpindi Express has other ideas and hence has bid a premature ‘bye’ to the game.

Too tired of idiosyncrasies of the political leadership in their country, Pakistan looked up to this final to infuse some joy in their otherwise dull life. Unmindful of Ramzan, crowds were seen around all eateries watching the game in large screens especially erected for this purpose and some broke the fast a bit too early.  A colossal sin to break the fast ahead of time, the world was substantiated of the fact that Cricket is beyond religion in the sub-continent.

Misbah made a last ditch attempt to take Pakistan towards victory, he did take them to the doorstep but forgot how to get in. Once too many, he has done it for the second time within 10 days, the latter reminds me of the saying “snatched the bread from the mouth”. Six runs in three balls, not too much pace and swing in Jogi’s ball’s, authoritatively swanked for a straight six the previous ball, what made him play that unorthodox shot? Guess what, the thought of victory got into his head and overconfidence led him, his team and the entire nation down. Soon effigies of Afridi & Younis were burnt in Pakistan and angry fans almost went berserk. Losing to India and that too in a final draws capital punishment, fortunately for the two, they are several miles away and likely to return after the forthcoming series against SA. That’s some time to cool the nerves of the angry fans, though I am sure Para-military forces would be guarding the houses of the two for some time to come.

Something slipped out of Malik’s mouth during the chat with Ravi, he blurted out reassuring “Muslims” across the globe on his sincerity towards the captaincy and intentions to win the match. Ravi showed no emotions, I could not understand the meaning of that statement. Later on it dawned on me the result could mean “Fatwah” to some players, his understanding the situation and hence the reassurance to the fanatic few speaks a lot on his maturity even after the match. Unmindful of all these Shahid (is it because he has it in his name!) was his chirpy self during his talk with Ravi and later on pulling aside Bajji for a small chat.

Though I was conspicuous of Sehwag’s absence from the final match after seeing the victory lap done by him, the injury seemed genuine as he and Dhoni dropped out after doing half the lap. Dhoni’s back must really be hurting and has a packed calendar in the day’s ahead. The two recalls’s to adorn the one day caps – Irfan & Bajji gave their best both in bowling and fielding. Irfan was at his usual best, mixing up his speed, swing and direction with an engineered precision.

Not to take away anything from R.P. I for one am convinced it was Irfan’s bowling that did Pakistan down. Removing the in-form Malik and devastating Afridi in one over dealt a telling blow on the opposition, his miserly figures in the semi-final and final says volumes of his resurgence and efforts put in for the much deserved recall. Bajji was smothered for runs in the penultimate over by Misbah, rather than calling it poor bowling, I should give the credit to the batsman for being innovative in his shot selection.

Rohit’s entry in the middle order has taken some burden of Yuvraj and Dhoni as the youngster has the habit of taking up responsibility and delivering. His electrifying half century against SA and a sizeable 30 against Pakistan did turn the table towards India. His airborne flick from short cover region and a clean catch to dismiss Malik also demonstrates his fielding prowess.

Were it the Sri Lankan lion’s adorning the Indian attire during the fielding session, I pinched myself to pain several times during the match. What a display, India lifted their fielding skills several notches and for a moment I thought they had a lengthy session with Jhonty prior to the match. The reflex catch of Uthappa to dismiss Hafeez, the direct hit from deep cover to remove the dangerous Imran and the diving attempt at long on to take an almost impossible catch showed how much the team can transform themselves in crucial situations. Pray god they make it a practice rather than rarity. The only blemish was done by R.P at deep mid on by conceding an extra run, fortunately for him Younis decided to gift his wicket without troubling the scoreboard much.

Two crucial catches were held by Sree though both looked simple the first removed the ravaging Afridi lest he could have made the target look so miniscule with few of his lusty blows outside the small ground. The second was the most crucial, mind you, even the most experienced player from any nation would not want the ball to come anywhere near them in a do or die situation. He maintained his cool and wrapped his finger’s gently around the ball as it settled in his palms instead of grabbing at it, a common mistake done by many in tight situations. The entire out fielders through themselves at the ball to save precious runs, they must have easily saved around 20 runs in the process.

Dhoni’s maturity and his calm approach was exemplified several times during the match, he always carried a smile on his face while discussing with his team and not a single outburst anytime during the match. His calm composure and outstanding captaincy has bought out a winner in Joginder, a debutant bowling the last over in two crucial matches and winning it for the team is no mean achievement. At the press conference Dhoni was quick to heap praise on the entire team instead of ‘basking in the glory’ and this shows his maturity and leadership skills.

The victory can never be termed as luck or fluke, if at all anything it was sheer strategy executed with military discipline with contribution from all eleven players. India is in safe hands under the leadership of MS at least in the shorter version of the game, his attitude puts to rest any speculation on how he would handle the senior trio during the series against Australia.