The interesting parallel that I see between the two Indian World Cup
victories – 1983 ODIs and 2007 Twenty/20 is the captains.
Where we have had suave, polished, apparently very intelligent and
thinking captains of Indian sides, like Gavaskar and Dravid, to larger
than life captains like Sachin, loners / fixers like Azhar, and
aggressive ones like Saurav, none of these chaps won us the World Cup.
The two who did, Kapil and Dhoni, are of the same breed, in a way. They play from the heart, they are truly fearless, they don’t care much for being politically right, they are game for a challenge, they never-say-die. Moreover, they give their teammates a feeling that the captain is ‘one of them’ only, and yet they are an inspiration to their teams. Most importantly, they lead from the front.
And as it turns out, it is this breed of a captain, this style that won us World Cups – now twice!
The 1983 come-back-from-brink win against Zimbabwe (from 17-5, India
went on to win, backed by a 175 runs knock from Kapil) and the first
round India-Pakistan game that India won in the bowl out, are both
significant turning points in the journey to the ultimate victory.
In that respect, the two World Cup wins have a familiar story.
Cheers.. Chak de, India!
Random Musings 