2011:
A 26-year-old with the world exploding around him. Not good enough to have his life mapped out, no high-paying job, no love of his life, no secure future; the six that Dhoni hit represented an average guy believing in breaking barriers, imagining an India that is going to dominate the world. It was not about greatness anymore. For all the reverence to Sachin, we all knew the victory was about Sehwag's belligerence, Yuvraj's impact, Dhoni's temperament, and many more who played as a team. Gambhir, Zaheer, Sreesanth, Raina, Bhajji; everyone in the squad contributed when called upon. Oh, and there was a 22-year-old Kohli.
2023:
A 38-year-old with the world just as it should be. A high-paying job, married to the love of his life, a 4-year-old daughter who can light up a bomb shelter with her innocent smile; the 2023 World Cup represents where I, and my country India, have reached in life. Favourites to win, dominating countries who basically invented the game on the field and in the boardroom (no little thanks to a behemoth called the IPL). In 2011, the Indian team was favoured and won. Since then, for 12 years, India has always managed to be favourites and stumbled before the finish line.
But now, the 35-year-old Kohli is challenging the reverence we had for Sachin; Bumrah is challenging what it means to be the best in his generation; Rohit is challenging the belligerence of Sehwag, Gayle, and Gilchrist with much better technique, and so on. We might still lose; two unpredictable winner-takes-all games are no guarantee of success. But the fact is that this team has already announced their dominance, a team of confident, bellicose individuals who believe they are the best and play accordingly. If we lose, it is going to be because the team did not play even close to their potential, or the other team played way above their potential. As the stunner that Kapil grabbed onto, or the dolly that Gibbs grassed can define a World Cup, there are still turning points waiting to happen.
But I sleep easy. In the world today, we are no longer fighting to prove our ability. It has been made self-evident, not by a one-man army named Sachin, or an unbeatable batting line-up, but by an all-round team of match winners who enjoy and accept their dominance of the sport. Is the off chance of a bad day in the semi-final or final going to take that away from us? I doubt it. Is Kohli, the Sachin equivalent, the most important player in this team? I doubt it. Reverence, India as a country, as a team has grown above it. We the fans couldn't be luckier.
