October 23, 2022
Generally, birthdays are a happy time. Apart from reflecting on another year as you age and be thankful for all your blessings, you also get greeted and loved by your family and friends. All in all, a relaxed, fun vibe all through the day.
This year, it was slightly different. Of course, all usual stuff I mentioned above did happen. Only, there was another ingredient in this year's birthday. October 23, 2022 also happened to host an India Pakistan match. That too in the World Cup. That too, after the heartbreaking loss 364 days ago in the previous World Cup (and another loss to them recently in the Asia Cup in August).
This meant my birthday was also going to be a tense day, filled with the usual racy heartbeats and sweaty palms you come to expect from a typical India-Pakistan match.
The last thing I wanted was for us to lose on my birthday. Sure, it would not have been the end of the world. But of course, sentiments and rationality need not always coexist happily. I knew it would not have mattered but I still did not want us to lose to Pakistan, certainly not on my big day.
And as the match began, India won a good toss, had a great start with its bowlers but we squandered that advantage and Pakistan managed to make almost 160 (159), despite no contributions from Babar or Rizwan.
And then, the horror start. After the quick procession of wickets in the first 10 overs, my "happy" birthday began to seem more like more of a sad day. Until a certain Mr. Kohli and Mr. Pandya decided to take things in their own bats. From biding their time initially and rotating strike to counterattacking Nawaz and taking him out of the attack to taking the game deep continuously and staying in the hunt to 28 from 8 to the legendary consecutive sixes by Virat making it 16 from 6, to the controversial no-ball, to the 3 smart runs after being bowled on the free-hit, to the sensible left alone wide by Ashwin and to finally, the lofted off drive for the winning single - every single moment thereafter was a pulsating account of how we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. And of course, to the one and only Virat Kohli's chasing masterclass.
Thank God for making my birthday one of the sweetest eventually, by making India victorious and for all the lovely, unforgettable moments!! What. A. Day!
As I write, Pakistan has lost to Zimbabwe last night, in the most shocking manner, by 1 run. Their fans must be distraught and have every reason to feel so. They were not even chasing a score of 180+ or even 160-odd. Just 131. And with all due respect to Zimbabwe's bowlers, they aren't the most menacing attack in the world either. Even after Pakistan committing harakiri like only Pakistan can, they were still in a position where they needed just 3 runs off the last 3 balls, with 4 wickets in hand. And an in-form Nawaz in the middle. Yet, the pressure got to them and they are staring at an early exit, barring any miracles and all other results going their way.
For the Indian team, we have managed to thrash Netherlands quite comprehensively in our next encounter and now await South Africa on Sunday. Let's keep the momentum going and continue playing the best cricket we can. The rest should take care of itself too.
Keep rocking, Team India...Jai Ho!
