Twenty-20 Win

We are the World Champions in Twenty-20! A new format of cricket devised 2 years back has now gripped the nation like wildfire. This format has been constantly rebuked by the BCCI, the governing body of cricket in India, and now our cricketers has conquered the ultimate competition in this format.
Our team have been trying hard to get the elusive World Cup despite having the best batsmen in cricket world. The hype before the last two World cups have been huge. In 2003, we did manage to reach the finals but were thrashed by rival Australia like minnows. Last time when we were thrown out in the group stage itself, there has been a huge outcry. Most of the people in India, me included, vowed not to waste our time in Cricket again. Then came the England series and we showed some decent performances and there was again some interest making its way into us. Still none of us had imagined that we will do any good in Twenty-20 World Championship scheduled next. 'The Big Three' opted out of the tournament and the little interest some had had, faded away. The first group stage match was washed out. In the next match we were to face the arch-rivals Pakistan and there was a tie. We won in the Bowl-out and suddenly the whole country regained all the interest! The team full of youngsters without the experience of the Tendulkars and Gangulys and Dravids and without any coach won the tournament in a format it has hardly ever played before. It defeated the South-African team which is a big force in Twenty-20. It defeated the Australians, champions in any format!
Some are of the view that in this format the game is won more by chance rather than skill but I would argue that. In this format, each and every player has to be terribly quick on the field and have to give in their 100%. Every run scored here counts a lot. The reason behind India's win cannot be attributed to any single player. Almost everyone contributed. Dhoni with his bat and excellent aggressive captaincy, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh chopped the opposition bowlers into minced meat. R.P. Singh and Pathan were very good with their bowl. Even Sreesanth was in his aggressive best. On field movement was quick like never before thanks to Uthappa, Yuvraj, Sreesanth and others.
There has been no preparation for this kind of cricket while other teams specially New Zealand and South Africa did all what they could. Australia too prepared for it and sent their 'best possible' team. The two teams in the top league which least expected to win made it to the finals. Both the teams lost to minnows in West Indies World Cup 2007. They showed their mettle in South Africa a few months later.
Both the encounters among India and Pakistan during the series were thrilling and provided classic mail-biting finish. I'm sure the final match would be remembered by all those who had witnessed the spectacle!