Chase

 "Unbelievable, this is.... India has won the Natwest Final out of nowhere, credit goes to two young guns, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif" was being announced when suddenly the camera turned towards the famous Lords' balcony and an over delighted Sorav Ganguly came out pushing VVS Laxman aside and in the euphoria, removed his Jersey and waved to the crowd. The entire crowd not only on the ground but every cricket fan who had just switched on their televisions enjoyed this act of the captain.

Many symbolic representations - It was sheer happiness of rising from the ashes with absolutely no chance of winning the game, and more importantly, it was a befitting reply to a similar act done by Andrew Flintoff at Mumbai after England had won a match.

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About the Natwest Series 2002, it was a tri-series involving India, England, and Sri-Lanka. The matches were played over two weeks and the best of the two teams - India and England made it to the finals. Indian Cricket lovers always know that any cricket match which involves India always goes down the wire and the emotional ones end up losing nails, one too many. 

13th July 2002 was the day and everyone was pretty pumped up. England won the toss and representing positive vibes, elected to bat. The batting conditions were pretty good, the opener Mark Trescothick and the captain Nasser Hussain(one-down) piled on Centuries. Nick knight missed out early. However, the 2nd wicket partnership of 185 runs almost sealed the match in favour of the home team. A quick-fire 40 runs by Andrew Flintoff in the death overs ensured the hosts scored 325 runs in the allotted 50 overs.

Those days, 300+ scores meant a huge task, T20 has not yet started and India was labelled as a country who reaches the final and fails to nail the finish. Sloppy bowling meant it was huge pressure on batsmen to chase and win the series. Winning was important to get the money off the back as well. The Captain, Sourav Ganguly cheered his team during the innings break and shared a simple strategy to not go tongs and hammer from the first ball but analyse the situation and hit consistently. These words were important because hitting the ball out of the park since the beginning meant the risk of wickets being lost and the team could not afford the same in a big game.

It was time to put words into action as Sourav himself was an opener with Shewag at the other end. He proved to the world why was he called The God of Off-side. The ball hit the sweet part of the bat consistently and the momentum gained. India were 100 for 0 in the 14th over perfectly as per the plan. It's said that "Well begun is half done" and the dressing room got the required dose of motivation from the action.

However, as soon as Dada lost his wicket, India slumped from 104-0 to 146-5. All the stalwarts were back to the pavilion and the fifth wicket that fell was that of Sachin Tendulkar. It was curtains and writing was clear on the wall. The extent of clarity can be gauged from the fact that everyone back in India shut down their televisions and many started emptying the stadium as well. Those days the entire responsibility of Indan batting was borne by the "Little Master" all alone. Though he personally did not like this compliment, it was proven fact.

At the crease was a young Yuvraj Singh and joining him was another youngster Mohammad Kaif.  Both had strong credentials of the batsman and had played many matches together during the Under-19 world cup series. In fact, India had won Under-19 World cup under the captainship of Mohammad Kaif a few years back.

Both the young guns had nothing to lose. Both cheered each other and played their natural games. Since the burden of expectation was minimum, both played the best cricket they grew playing. Young legs ensured to run faster between the wickets and hit an occasional boundary or six. The required run rate was in check. The pressure was back on the Home side. As things started moving in favour of the visitors, disaster struck and Yuvraj lost his wicket after a 121 run partnership in the 41st Over. The match was far from over, India needed 69 more runs to win in the remaining 9 overs, which was a daunting task.

It was now the tale-enders show. To everyone's amazement, Harbajan played a cameo but then did not last for long. Anil Kumble was out for a duck too. Zaheer Khan joined the party with the strong Kaif, who had already made his mark as the Hero of the match. India won the match in style with over 3 balls to spare and Zaheer hit the winning runs. 

Though the match did not run down to the wire, it was one of the best matches, where cricket actually won. It had many life lessons to be learnt:

1) A positive captain not only preaches but, also brings into practice what he has preached.

2) A match is not lost until the last ball is bowled

3) Even after the superstars fail on a certain day, others in the team have to put up their hands and perform.

4) In fact, it is an opportunity for the lesser-known players to make a mark in the cricketing books.

5) Every player plays an important role in the win but only a few names register their existence.

6) A big victory is always an integration of many small victories (Borrowed from Devendra Tamhane sir).

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That win over England got the monkey off the Indian cricket team's back for sure. It also announced the arrival of a young emerging India to take over the reins from a star-studded Indian Team. Also, it brought confidence into the minds of all cricket lovers that 6th and 7th down batsman could win a game for the team but the celebration of the captain at the balcony stole the show and is still fresh in the memories of all cricket lovers!!! This final match can be aptly called as "THE CHASE"