From fear to belief

From Avra Ray, India
I belong to those millions of Indians who grew up with success in Cricket at the top of the wishlist. However like most of us would admit, most of the memories are not so sweet.

There's that famous six at Sharjah, Salim Malik at Eden Gardens, that 333 from Gooch and that painful loss at Chennai, despite Sachin's heroics. But then there have been happy memories too, all the world cup matches against Pakistan were but a balm on the pain of not winning the big prize. Yet we had the players to show, Kapil, Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Azharuddin and Shastri were world beaters on their days. But their days seldom came together.

That seemed to change with the Fab Four holding centerstage. They had some memorable "same-day"s. Taunton twins, Eden phoenix came like a breath of fresh air. But we all wanted a breeze to inflate the sail of Indian cricket. And then came Dhoni.

His name initially drew taunts, much like those shots he played. Brute power - everyone said. I was amazed by his hitting on that 183 he made, it seemed that he could go on and on and on. And that celebration - machine-gun style, we had our gladiator. But everyone needs a bit of luck - and it came in the smallest of parcels - T20 WC. The big four didn't want a shot at the T20 cup, and Dhoni was more of a forced choice. But under him India did something which they seldom did - held their nerve and won. In crucial matches, in bowl-outs, Dhoni showed his boys what staying cool means. And that has now become his trademark.

Maybe without success he would be brushed aside as "casual", but the success moulded that coolness into a belief, and he has kept hammering at that belief till it got transformed into match-winning confidence. I have been watching and following Indian cricket madly for the last 25 years, and only now do I sit confidently in front of my TV-set when India are 135/6 chasing another 50 runs in 40 balls. We owe that to the present team.

It takes a lot to rub on the confidence of a single man to 11 and then pass that on to a million others. Thanks you, Dhoni, for giving us the confidence to support our team.