Winners all the way

Young India’s blitzkrieg at Durban assured them a date with Pakistan in the finals of T20 World Championships. It was a marvellous teamwork against the mighty Australians that saw Indians roller-coast past them. Yuvraj Singh snatched the match from the kangroos by hitting 70 in 30 balls and S. Sreesanth did the same with his match-winning balling statistics. Not to forget those precious overs by Joginder Sharma, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh.

Today, India will lock horns with the arch-rivals Pakistan in a title clash. These teams have made a brave comeback after bowing out of WC 2007 at the Caribbean in the first round itself. Pakistan had to suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of fledgling Ireland. After their early exit from the 2007 WC, PCB was marred with controversies like death of coach Bob Woolmer (which was speculated as a murder), resignation of Inzy and Md. Yousuf, recent drama in South Africa by speedster Shoaib Akthar. The young Pakistan team kept all these disputes at the back burner and went on to book it’s place in the T20 WC finals.

Team India, led by M.S. Dhoni has also performed with sustained zeal and contagious enthusiasm of each and every team members was a treat to watch. The team has proved that it has cricketers capable of beating the likes of Australia and South Africa and has capability of winning major tournaments without the triumvirate - Rahul, Sachin and Sourav. Those who speculated Team India’s consistency and the capability of beating mighty teams need to rethink.

Whoever wins the final, Team India deserves a round of applause for their tremendous performance in the Twenty20 WC. Both Team India and Pakistan have been successful in defining a watershed moment in the cricketing history of their respective countries.