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Journalism of Courage
A day after winning the World T20 title at Johannesburg in 2007,M S Dhoni was on an open-top bus on the streets of Mumbai,smiling and waving as all of India celebrated the teams first ICC championship title since 1983. Missing from those famous frames of the victory parade which ended at the Wankhede Stadium were Sachin Tendulkar,Zaheer Khan and coach Gary Kirsten.
Four years on,Dhoni will be back at the Wankhede tomorrow hoping this time to etch his name on the World Cup,completing a delectable circle. And this time,he will have the services of Tendulkar,Zaheer and Kirsten perhaps for the last time that the teams structural troika would be appearing for an Indian ODI side.
While Kirsten announced that his days with India were over some time back,both Zaheer and Tendulkar,according to sources,could announce that they will hang up their coloured boots at the end of the World Cup final against Sri Lanka. Neither of them has won an ICC title yet; a win tomorrow could change that.
A lot has changed for India since 2007 what has remained constant is the skippers insatiable hunger for excellence,and his Zen-like calm in the pursuit of glory. Dhonis India is already the worlds best Test match side; a win tomorrow will help his team take a massive stride in the same direction in ODIs.
Im not that great in recalling memories, Dhoni said a tad sheepishly on Friday,when asked about his moment of glory with the T20 team. Im still as excited about (playing) a final as I was then. Of course,I have played a bit more games since 2007,and a few more big games too. That makes me think that Im in a better position to keep myself calm and do everything I can to ensure that both me and my team perform tomorrow, he said.
At the Wankhede,in the first Australia-less World Cup final since 1996,Dhoni will look to change Indias shabby World Cup record against Sri Lanka. Since 1975,India have beaten Lanka only twice in a World Cup match; Lanka have,on the other hand,put it past India on four occasions.
In the first of those losses in the group game against Arjuna Ranatungas side that ultimately won the 1996 Cup Tendulkar scored a 137-ball 137,and then,in the semi-final in Kolkata,top-scored with 65 before the rest of the side crumbled spectacularly and crowd trouble handed the match to Sri Lanka.
