The kangaroos have been tamed, at last ...

Though we don't find kangaroos in India, we have finally learnt how to tame them. There were no coaching manuals, no 'dummies guide' and definitely no study material on this; but the sheer mental strength, tenacity to claw out of tough situations, a whole lot of hard work and a little bit of luck has finally helped us achieve this feat. The land of snake charmers has finally produced kangaroo hunters.

If you still did not get what I am driving at, then do read my last post. I had ended that post on a positive note and my last few words were 'Go India, Go.....Jeetenge Hum'. I had an intuition that we would beat the Aussies in the 2nd finals and bring home the cup. But the manner in which it was done was emphatic. It was a tale that could not have been scripted better. It had drama, emotions, humour, character and a fantastic climax.

This was a retribution of sorts. And the credit of this series victory does not go to any particular player, it was a team work. All the guys played their part well. Sachin fired in both the finals and helped India put-up great opening partnership as well as steered the innings, Gambhir had played well in the first few matches, Yuvi did his bit, Sreesanth and Pathan bowled superbly, while Pravin and Ishant were a revelation. But best of all was Harbhajan's performance, he did so well under pressure. After all the flak he drew and all abuses that were hurled at him, he showed everyone what he is made of......steel. And I don't have enough words of praise for our captain 'courageous'. His captaincy was outstanding and the way he kept the team together was really laudable. This is a famous win and we shall be talking about this for many years to come.

Now that we have beaten the world champions, we have to bring consistency in our games. We need to win consistently and beat all the other teams as well. We need to win in style and get the juggernaut rolling. Getting to the top is not as difficult as staying on top is, and we have to stay there for a while......hopefully, a long while.

frenzied friday followed by super sunday

The Friday that just went by, was literally a fry-day. I was not exhausted due to extensive work, but I was tired of the farewells and send-offs. I was bidding adieu, wishing good luck and hoping the best for all the people who were celebrating their last day at office. I think they were kind of relieved that their journey was coming to a temporary halt.

Let me just list down the events of that day:

• a junior colleague quit and was joining our competitor, so he was having a farwell party
• a project manager was going on a maternity leave, so we had a baby-shower
• a lesser known colleague was travelling onsite [to US] for a project assignment, so he was partying to celebrate this
• a friend quit the job because she was marrying to settle down in another city
• two colleagues were taking a year's break from work, a sabbatical; so, they were celebrating the fact that they would soon be joining her hubby
• a colleague was celebrating the fact that she finally convinced her managers to transfer her to an office that was close to her home-town

Thankfully, the last the 3 listed events were clubbed together. That reduced the pressure of taking time off and meeting them in exclusivity.

So, after the fry-day I had a pretty laid back Saturday. I just relaxed, watched tv and ran a few errands. Then came the super sunday. It did not start off as a super sunday that it finally turned out to be. The day began like any other day; slow, lazy and dim. What made it super were the sporting events of the day.

Firstly, there was the 1st of the 3 finals against our new found cricketing rivals....Australia. Secondly, the Under-19 cricket team was playing the finals of the World Cup tournament against Sout Africa. Both the matches were important, but the former one was more prestigious and more bitterly fought. So, I was naturally interested in that.

I am glad that India won both the encounters. Sachin Tendulkar hit a blistering century and made my day; he took India safely home and we won by 6 wickets and 4 overs to spare. Harbhajan added insult to injury by claiming the wickets of Symonds and Hayden; that was a befitting reply to their off-field antics and misplaced arrogance. It was great to see India deliver the first punch by winning the first of the three finals, thereby drawing first blood. Now, they just need to keep the momentum going and knock them off their feet, in their backyard. That would be really awesome......

Well, now that the Indian team had exorcised the demons of Sydney, it was time for the young guns to deliver. So, I switched my focus to the U-19 World Cup Final. Indians were bowled out for 159, and they set SA a paltry target of 160. I was pretty sure that we would go down fighting although there was a ray of hope when SA were 17 for the loss of 3 wickets. But then came a divine intervention; rain stopped play and the targets were revised. SA were required to hit 99 runs of 96 balls, and India was back into the game. The boys made no mistake hereafter; the team was ably lead by Virat Kohli who made some good bowling changes and field placings. Eventually, they stole the game from right under SA's nose. And we won the U-19 WC, it was a great moment.


The celebrations had not stopped yet, and there was more reason to kick the dust in the festivities and join the party as the Indian hockey team beat Australia 7-3 in the World Hockey Olympic qualifying tournament. Althought this event took place on a Monday, I would like to count it as a Sunday event because, somewhere deep in the heart of the players, the cricketing win might have given them that extra bit of enthusiasm and self-belief.

Now that the weekend is over, party has ended and the noise has died down, I am preparing for a hectic week ahead. Although I will be busy at work, my mind will be on the 2nd of the 3 finals to be played in Brisbane on Tuesday. All I can say is Go India, Go.......... Jeetenge Hum.