Daily Times

As I was returning home late last night, a thick veil of smoke and a pungent smell of fire powder had clearly rented the air. Brilliant flashes of light and loud noises shattered the proverbial serenity of the night. People were bursting firecrackers with strange enthusiasm. I knew it was Holi the day after, but you would have been excused if you had thought Diwali was upon us. People were driving past, blaring their horns incessantly and shouting like maniacs: “Jeet gaye, jeet gaye.” (We have won, we have won).” The city, it seemed, had gone into a heady celebration.

“Kya ho gya, sir, ekdum achanak se?” (What has happened, sir, all of a sudden?) asked my driver, who clearly, was not following the goings-on thousands of kilometres away at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy stadium. “India jeet gaya (India has won)”, I answered, immediately realising the dual meaning those words conveyed.

Yes, it was not merely a win for eleven ‘Men in Blue’ representing their country, it was a win for the country itself. And the win was all the more special because our national pride was on the verge of being severely dented at the Chinnaswamy on Wednesday, March 23, that too at the hands of Bangladesh — a country whose main purpose of creation may seem to be for suffering Indian disdain.

It is the same Bangladesh that had had the temerity to post an image on social media showing one of its players (name of the player? who cares?) holding aloft Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s severed head. A crime for which we had made the little country pay heavily by clobbering its bowlers in the Asia Cup final, with Dhoni, ironically, playing a major part. We had posted a picture of our own, showing Dhoni carrying the head of the Bangladeshi bowler instead. We had ridiculed, mocked and shamed the Bangladeshis to our heart’s content, and in the end, let them off with a warning that they should never ever, ever, ever try to get under the skin of their big brothers.

But on Wednesday that pride was about to be punctured. Dhoni’s team, which is not at all living up to its billing of pre-tournament favourites in the World T20, had stumbled its way to a modest 146/7 in the allotted 20 overs. The ‘hurt’ Bangladeshis mounted an almighty charge, and for most part of the match, looked in complete control, till the last three balls.

Mushfiqur Rahim, the baby-faced Bangladeshi wicket-keeper, having done all the hard work, and after hitting Hardik Pandya for two boundaries in the last over, committed a baby-like blunder, playing a rash lofted pull, when all that was needed were two little runs in three balls. Surely, he could have done it with a nudge in the gap, but he clearly wanted to make the win emphatic, by hitting the ball into the stands. Wrong option. Mushfiqur holed out in the deep.

And next ball, the unthinkable happened. Mahmudullah Riyad, whose rich vein of form since the Asia Cup had made many of us wonder why he was not on the buy-list of IPL franchises, threw everything but the kitchen sink at a full toss, and Ravindra Jadeja took an absolute blinder in the deep. Completely unacceptable from an experienced batsman and one of the pillars of the team.

Two runs off the last ball was always going to be difficult for a new batsman, and Dhoni ensured that it was doubly difficult, by slowing down proceedings. The Indians were almost having board meetings in the middle, and when Pandya delivered the last ball, a short one outside off, moving further away, the batsman missed, but ran anyhow.

Dhoni, who had his gloves off, calmly collected the ball, didn’t throw, but ran at breakneck speed towards the stumps and shattered them before the batsman could complete the run. Game won, and Bangladesh was left ruing what could have been.

A one-run win. The Indians got home in the end by the skin of their teeth. But really, is a one-run win against ‘bachcha’ (child) Bangladesh befitting the might of India — a side ranked highest by the ICC itself, the favourites to win the trophy? It should not have occasioned the frenzied celebration that it did. But why were we then shouting ourselves hoarse last night?

It is not as if Team India put in a top performance. In fact, it left a lot to be desired. The batting was inept and dollies were dropped. The celebration was more, I guess, a sigh of relief that Team India was out of jail. Its pride was put to question by an ‘upstart’, and we were thankful that we managed to salvage the day in the end. We were scared to bits, scared of losing face, and having survived that scare, the wild celebration was just a natural cathartic reaction, I would say. It was indirectly also recognition of the coming of age of Bangladesh. The way Bangladesh cornered India, in India takes some doing. Even the Australias, Pakistans and South Africas of the world have found it difficult.

But it is also true that a bigger team may not have let India sneak through the back door as Bangladesh did. We can thank our stars that we could slither out of the arena, without being bludgeoned to death. Bangladesh gave us a life. A loss on Wednesday would have severely jeopardised our chances in the tournament. If Team India is clever, it will make the best out of the reprieve, and go for long haul.

(A version of this op-ed appeared in print in daily O on March 24, 2016). The writer is a staff member of daily O, India