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Journalism of Courage
TILL FOUR days ago, Lendl Simmons was busy sorting things out at home and planning for his flight to Mumbai on Friday. He had opted out of the World T20 squad, owing to a back injury, and had nothing but the IPL on his mind.
But here he was on his IPL home-ground, much earlier than he had imagined. More importantly and significantly, he was decked in maroon with the inimitable West Indies insignia proudly displayed near his heart. And of course this was the big semi-final of the World T20 against MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and India. (STATS || POINTS TABLE || FIXTURES)
It more or less looked like he was only taking up from where he left off the last time he graced the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai Indians colours that is. Just that nobody was cheering for him. In fact, every time he found the boundary, the same 36,000 who had cheered him on vociferously during his last visit, were responding with a hushed silence.
Scorecard: India vs West Indies
Somehow, the Indian team didn’t seem too keen on seeing him walk off though. It was like they were playing perfect hosts and letting Simmons make up for all the action he had missed out in the tournament till then. Unfortunately, they kept getting him out, but the bowlers somehow kept over-stepping the line just enough-with the back of their heels marginally landing in front of the popping crease. And Simmons kept walking off, and then walking back. Maybe, the Indians just wanted to hand him an additional drinks-break while they were at it.
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The first time it happened, he was on 18 off 12. You actually felt bad for Jasprit Bumrah, for he had just dived low to his right and taken a terrific catch to make up for his previous blunders in the World T20. But replays showed that R Ashwin had over-stepped. By the time Hardik Pandya showed that he could pull off the act slightly better, Simmons had raced past half-century mark. He had also put West Indies well on track for a convincing victory, considering their mighty lower-order. And this time he had a massive smile plastered on his face. It wasn’t a case of him admiring his luck, it was almost like he couldn’t believe the level of hospitality being meted out to him.
WATCH: West Indies Beat India To Make World T20 Final
There was one more time, Simmons nearly had to walk off, when Ravindra Jadeja almost pulled off a sensational catch near the long-on fence, but this time he had stepped on the rope, rather than missing it. That six had put West Indies within touching distance of their total of 193, and Simmons was there in the end as Andre Russell smashed Virat Kohli of all people over the deep mid-wicket fence, to put the West Indies within one step off another tryst with T20 glory.
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The chase hadn’t begun the way the West Indies wanted it to, or maybe the way everyone else but the team wanted to, with Chris Gayle being bowled in the second over. But like Darren Sammy has reiterated plenty of times already, there is no dearth of match-winners in this team. Gayle is but just the most destructive of them. And while it was Simmons who carried the team through, the real damage up-front came from Johnson Charles.
WATCH: West Indies Beat India To Make World T20 Final
On the face of it, you can dismiss Charles as a limited batsman. He uses his bat more as a shovel on most occasions, clearing his left-leg and whacking deliveries that land in his zone through the on-side. But his biggest strength lies in how clinical he is with his hitting. Rarely does he a spare a delivery in his half. The pitch at Wankhede too was perfectly in his favour, and so was Pandya’s penchant to keep pitching the ball short of length. And it was he who took on the Indian bowlers despite losing Marlon Samuels in the early going, and allowed Simmons, the more graceful and classier of the two, to get his eye in.
PHOTOS: West Indies beat India by 7 wickets
Simmons would describe his sleep schedule in detail later when asked about how he had spent his time post the SOS call. “I was very rested for this game. I slept on both flights. I came here and I slept the night. In the morning I had practice. After that I slept from 3-10pm. Slept again from 12 pm-4pm. So I was very rested,” he had said.
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But here it was India’s campaign in their home World T20 that he was putting to sleep. In the end, West Indies didn’t even need to use a majority of their arsenal, with Russell-who had had a terrible day with the ball and in the field-producing the necessary fireworks, launching four massive sixes into the upper tiers of the Wankhede Stadium. Though still silent, you could hear the partisan crowd hiss with awe. They just couldn’t help it. And before the fourth of his sixes had cleared the mid-wicket fence, he was off on a victory lap, as the rest of the West Indies dug-out poured onto the Wankhede creating a melee. In Trinidad they say, whether win or lose, you have to end the day with a lime boi. And they couldn’t help it even though they had spoilt the Indian party.
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Darren Sammy had repeatedly mentioned how much this tournament meant to him and his team. It was more than just a sweet victory. It was in a quest to extend their childhood dreams of donning the West Indian cap a little longer, even if only by three more days. And the celebration was symptomatic off it, and will be expected to go on well past the time this paper goes to print.
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