Seniors steal U-19 thunder

Every Australian wicket was celebrated with religious fervour, as those waiting rushed to the nearest television set. “Under-19 ko bhool jaao,” laughed one of those waiting for the boys to emerge, as he rushed to join fellow fanatics in front of the TV.

And just as the waiting was beginning to assume Godot-esque proportions, came the loudest cheer of all. James Hopes was caught by Piyush Chawla off the bowling of Irfan Pathan. It happened hundreds of miles away, but the noise reached a crescendo.

Contrived excitement?

The real reason for all the waiting, though, was the arrival of the under-19 team.

The crowd was more mediapersons than fans, and though some men on bikes with flags and confetti-holders arrived to add numbers, spontaneity was not the flavour of the afternoon.

Another tempo arrived, holding a dozen cheerleaders at the back — in full uniform, pompoms in hand. They tried their best to get the crowd excited, and the music played its part, but it was never going to be enough.

Finally, the moment arrived. It could have been an anti-climax, considering all the cheering that had already been done, but evidently, there was some reserved for the youngsters as well.

Shouting and waving they appeared, sticking their heads out of the windows as the bus rolled past. Virat Kohli, Tanmay Srivastava, Saurabh Tiwary… the smiles on these faces couldn’t have been wider as they tried to digest the moment.

Traffic crawled as the parade moved through the streets, past the trees which had posters welcoming the team. The destination was the Chinnaswamy Stadium for a felicitation, but it was the journey they were enjoying.

Shades of the Indian Premier League were ever-present through the proceedings, with Vijay Mallya among those seated on the podium with the BCCI bigwigs and the heroes of the day.

The attention soon turned, though, to Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, former and present Test captain, both part of the Mallya-owned Bangalore team. “This is a phenomenal achievement and we are very proud of you. But I want you to think about one thing — the team that won the same World Cup in 2000 has just one player in the team which won the series in Australia today. This is a critical part of your life, and I hope some day you have the privilege of winning the World Cup,” were Dravid’s words of advice to the boys who are just beginning their journey.

“We played as a team all the way through. I told my team mates we must play as a nation if we are to win, and this is definitely the happiest, proudest moment of my life,” said skipper Virat Kohli.

There exists no crystal ball to predict if Kohli will one day hit the winning runs in a World Cup final, or if Iqbal Abdullah will be successful in ensnaring top batsmen with his left-arm spin, but what they do have is here and now. A few moments to be cherished forever.