On days such as the 18th of March 2012, a person’s belief in magic can be justified, their faith in dreams can be realised and most of all, their never give up, never say die spirit can be sustained.
Today we witnessed an Indian bowling performance that would find more success in a baseball match and a batting line up that quite literally defied a rampant and belligerent opposition bowling attack.
On a day where the world’s myriad of problems continued to exacerbate, the sporting arena produced music that defied all the negativity of the world.
Let’s begin with tennis. The Indian Wells semi-finalists included the top 3 ranked players in the world and an American. The two matches could not have been more different, John Isner used sheer muscle power to ace away world number 1 Novak Djokovic, while Federer used his wits and ever improving skill set to put down the raging bull the tennis world knows as Rafael Nadal. Both matches were contrasting pieces of music, but both were equally scintillating.
Moving on to the world of F1. As a big Kimi Raikonnen fan, it was a fantastic race in which he went from being at the back of the grid to finishing 7th in his first race back in an f1 car since his 2 year hiatus. The roar of the cars and the precision cornering with some mind numbing tactical decisions drove away all of the viewers’ worldly problems for a few hours.
Lastly. Cricket. 659 runs. 10 wickets. 3 centurions. 3 half centurions and a 17 year old Tendulkar. Perhaps I need not say more, but I shall.
In a game where the bowling sides were akin to lambs being led to their slaughter, the batsmen were simply magical. While Pakistan’s batsmen enjoyed a weak Indian bowling attack and really took the challenge to their neighbors, our boys answered the calls of a blue billion and were magical. Tendulkar seemed to be floating as he played some cover drives that were a throw back to his earlier days. Best of all was his uppercut that made the team’s intent clear. “hit us hard, we,ll hit back harder.” then there was
Virat Kohli’s mammoth innings that eclipsed the excellent batting by the Pakestani Openers. It was an honor to watch a national asset of India deliever in such a magnificent fashion. Effortless, elegant, efficient, enviable. You almost wished Pakistan had scored more so this angry young man could continue to decimate a fantastic bowling attack.
Before I finish, perhaps a special mention to the world of Football. While Bolton’s 23 year old Fabrice Muamba remains critically ill, Fernando Torres took the opportunity to finally hit the net. Twice! Chelsea went on to complete a 5-2 rout of Leicster, while
United hunted down a lacklusture
Wolves with 5 goals to extend their lead over Manchester City to 4 points.
The world of sports proved its significance to the world yet again today, with a burst of unadulterated, pure magic. However, as a team India, Manchester United, Roger Federer fan, I’d like to end on a warning to all oppositions.
Hit us hard,we’ll hit back harder.
Knock us down, we’ll knock you out.
