The visiting Englishmen had broken our pride. Thus, beating Australia became even more important. The 4-0 whitewash over Australia was achieved in early 2013 – an important year for Indian cricket. MS Dhoni had to redeem himself as the Indian captain. In the two years, the highs and lows oscillated between agony and ecstasy.
India had won the 2011 World Cup at home. If you thought 2011 was a golden year for Indian cricket, it wasn't. India conceded the Test No.1 ranking after being humiliated 0-4 in England and the same result followed in Australia. The season marked the end of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman's career. Virender Sehwag's fortunes hung on the edge. If that wasn't enough, England had just breached the Indian fort, doing the unthinkable, i.e., beating India in a Test series at home.
The 4-0 win over Australia and reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was what Indian cricket needed. Then came the Indian Premier League (IPL) and that transported us to the horrors of 2000. The spot-fixing scandal broke out with a prominent international star like Sreesanth finding himself amid the hullaballoo.
Such was the uproar that Dhoni had to maintain a poker face to the fixing related questions before the team's departure for the Champions Trophy. Two years since the World Cup win, a lot had changed for the fans.
And for the team too.
Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh were dropped. Sachin Tendulkar had retired from ODIs. There were no Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh either. Those names were the pillars two years before when Dhoni became only the second Indian captain to lift the World Cup.
For years, India remained spoilt with the opening choices. A line-up with no openers with the last names – Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag and Gambhir – was unthinkable.
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were given the charge. The duo straight away started with a 127-run opening stand against South Africa. Dhawan slammed his maiden ODI century off just 80 balls to bring up India's win. India then went to notch a comfortable win against West Indies with Dhawan slamming another hundred. The much-hyped India-Pakistan encounter was marred by rain. With no losses in the group stage, India marched to the semi-final and played Sri Lanka. The bowlers stood up and ensured a comfortable win for India.
June 23, 2013. It was India versus the hosts England in the tournament final. Persistent rain forced the affair to be a 20-over a side. England got the advantage of winning the toss and fielding. In such instances, it's better to know the target and chase.
The Indian batting found it challenging to cope against seam. Virat Kohli top-scored with 43 and a late flourish from Ravindra Jadeja ensured that India limped to 129 for 7.
England had lost their fourth wicket in the form of Ian Bell at the score of 46, in the ninth over. He was stumped. It was Dhoni's sharp work to dislodge the bails off Ravindra Jadeja's bowling. Despite no conclusive evidence, the third umpire ruled it out. Bell was perhaps unlucky, but just when India seemed to have gained the upper hand, Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan stitched a vital stand.
England now needed 20 from 16 balls with six wickets in hand, and two set batsmen in the crease. That's when pandemonium struck. Morgan had just hit a six and Ishant Sharma followed it with two wides outside off-stump. Most Indian fans across the globe, who had prepared for Ishant's effigies by then, realised the next ball that it was a ploy. Another widish ball and a frustrated Morgan reached at it, miscuing and skying it to Ravichandran Ashwin. The next ball, Bopara gets surprised with a short ball, and he airs it to Ashwin again, this time at the square-leg, inside the circle.
Jadeja and Ashwin spun their web in the last two overs as India pulled off a five-run win. The win meant a lot for the country, and it helped in exorcising the ghosts of the IPL fixing.
Dhoni became the only captain to win T20 World Cup, ICC Test Mace, World Cup and Champions Trophy.
Brief Scores
India 129/7 (20) [Shikhar Dhawan 31 (24), Virat Kohli 43 (34), Ravindra Jadeja 33 (25)*; Ravi Bopara 4-1-20-3] beat England 124/8 (20) [Eoin Morgan 33 (30), Ravi Bopara 30 (25); Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-24-2, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-1-15-2, Ishant Sharma 4-0-36-2] by 5 runs.
Player of the Match: Ravindra Jadeja
Player of the Tournament: Shikhar Dhawan
