How many times in history of sports has it happened that the player who the opposition is most wary of, fails and a new hero(a villain, if you’re an opponent!) emerges? The Argentinians didn’t expect Mario Goetze of all people from Germany to score the winning goal in the deciding minutes of the FIFA World Cup 2014. The goal was like a sword puncturing the dream of Lionel Messi, his men and fans around the world. They hadn’t planned for him. He only came as a substitute and became a national hero.
Similarly, on Thursday night, the whole of India awaited with baited breath to see what Chris Gayle had in store, something unexpected hit the Indians. Lendl Simmons, who was not a part of the original squad was flown in to replace Andre Fletcher and landed in his adopted home ground, Mumbai less than 48 hours prior to the match, batted like a man possessed and of course, he had all the luck in his kitty. Along with Andre Russell’s clean hits, a man who batted like he was a stereoisomer of his Jamaican countryman Gayle.
In the end it was a hard fought game and the 40,000 odd spectators at the Wankhede Stadium, who had five years ago gone ecstatic when MS Dhoni hit that winning six to life the ICC World Cup 2011, were numbed into silence as Russell repeated the act to deposit a Virat Kohli-full toss to a similar region.
But something unusual happened even as India bowed out of the ICC World T20 2016 at home. Were the fans angry or too upset? Not really. If you went through the social media feeds immediately after the game was over and even on the morning after that, you would have seen a lot of positive messages. Indian fans supporting their team and praising the West Indies, for their spirit. It was something highly unusual. Imagine if we had lost in a similar fashion to Pakistan.
Imagine, if it was Mohammad Hafeez instead of Simmons or if it was Shahid Afridi instead of Russell, would the reactions been same? I highly doubt.
And this is exactly where West Indies comes into picture. A team with a great history, a team that produced so many inductees to the ICC hall of fame, a team that has been in the news of late for being a shadow of its past. In Test cricket, West Indies have been pathetic and worse they failed to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.
If they play T20 cricket with this side, they will probably collapse in three days and party the next two. Talk of T20 format and they are the kings. And this exactly where T20 cricket has come to the rescue of West Indies cricket and its fans. The format suits their flamboyant style of play.
It’ s all about flair, athleticism and power, something this current bunch of West Indians are blessed with in bountiful amounts. Technique, temperament and patience is not their game. And luckily that is not a mandatory criteria in T20s either.
It sits well with the celebration style as well. This format is all about entertainment and even off the field, none can entertain like the West Indians. Their celebratory moves are unmatched. Even when Dwayne Bravo took a catch on the boundary line and brought out his ‘champion’ moves, Indian fans weren’t angry. The fact that we lost to a bunch of such lovely and ebullient individuals has only made this defeat more palatable. Nobody was made Yuvraj Singh (read: scapegoat) this time and this is what we must actually thank West Indies for!
So, when they take the centre stage in Kolkata, the erstwhile capital of British India, I am most Indian fans will be cheering for the Caribbean side and might even sing, dance and celebrate with Bravo, Sammy and Gayle on that “Champion.. Champion…” song
Indians may not be in the final but West Indians are. They play a brand of entertaining cricket that no side can match. A lot of charm is injected to the sport with the entertaining West Indian side. Hope they continue to make fans smile and expect a lot of fun on Sunday’s final when they take on England, a nation that ruled India for 400 long years.
“Everybody knows Chris Gayle is a Champion.. Bravo is a Champion… Champion.. Champion.”
[Devashish Palkar, an MBBS student, A sports afficionado, news addict and a patient of OCSD ( Obsessive Compulsive Satirical Disorder)].
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