Mera Bharat Mahan, say ecstatic Mumbaikars

Mitesh Paryani, a 23-year-old architect from Chembur, felt the move to bring Debasis Mohanty for Ajit Agarkar made a big difference to the team balance. “Agarkar was never suited for theconditions; Mohanty was the bowler who could and did make all the difference with his swing.”

Mitesh was anxious at the start of the day for two reasons. He felt rains were likely to be India’s biggest bogey. “Also India had to win. But once, England lost Thorpe it was easy for India.”

Pushpa Gupta, a 42-year-old housewife from Shahad in Thane district, was bubbling with excitement from the start of the day. “I was looking forward to the match today. Last night, India were doing well. But I was very apprehensive this morning.

“There was great excitement when the fourth, fifth and sixth England wickets fell. I was clapping and enjoying each dismissal with my sons and husband contributing their vocal support,” said Gupta.

She felt India were unlucky in their first two matches and things just had to fall into the place in the next three matches. “Sachin’s presence against Kenya boosted the morale, then Ganguly and Dravid were contributing consistently,” she felt.

Ibrahim Hargan, a 23-year-oldEngineer from Bhendi Bazaar was another anxious Indian this morning. But after the fall of Thorpe and Flintoff he felt good. “I had to go out to my office briefly and rejoined my family members in the last 15 overs.”

Ibrahim was of the view that India’s team work, rather than any particular individual performance, was the reason for the revival of fortunes.Shobhna Jain, 50, was equally apprehensive. The Colaba-based government employee said, “I was glued to the television from 2 p.m. Every 15 minutes, they were saying that it will dry up and the match would start. I was praying that India should get to bowl at least 4.3 overs.”

Mrs Jain said she was confident of India winning, though. “We have been batting so well in this tournament and have won by huge margins. Ganguly and Dravid have been excellent. We lost the first two matches because we were over-confident, we lacked the initiative. But after that, we have seen India in a new avatar . The bowlers also did well. Even England were not able toplay in home conditions. In spite of the cold weather we won.”

Yogesh Malekar, 19, a second year KJ Somaiya Commerce undergraduate, felt it was Tendulkar’s return for the Kenya match that was the turning point in India’s campaign.

Rajan Kurien, a 45-year-old Taj Hotels employee from Bandra, agreed. “Sachin’s absence pulled the team down. It was like Ronaldo taking ill before the World Cup soccer final. His return motivated everyone to contribute.”

Shubhangi Pilankar, 18, a resident of Dadar and an undergrad from Sachin’s college — Kirti — also endorsed the Tendulkar factor. “When Sachin came back to play for India others in the team also got moral support.” Shubhangi said the fall of Thorpe’s wicket convinced her Indian would win.

Grover Mohit a 12th standard student of Khalsa College felt bookies had some role to play after India’s losses to South Africa and Zimbabwe. “But then they worked hard for their victories. Today I was confident of India’s victory,” said Mohit.