So, the Indian cricket team is on a high. High after several lows. High after beating all odds. High after waiting for 28 years. High after a win — on moral and cricketing grounds. High, because they are up against challenges, and because they are ready.
Racial discrimination is no news for the Indians. We have been discriminated because of our skin tone, because of our accent and because of our culture. We are often ridiculed on not just foreign soils, but also on our own. For years we were ruled by the British, and it was only much later that we threw them out. The Indian cricket team’s win against England on the ‘home of cricket’ was very similar. For years they were tormented, and history gave them no respite. They never managed to nail it overseas, a fact that haunted them every time they landed for an away series. This time, however, they silenced the tongues that wagged against them. They played cricket and played gloriously.
However, now that the jinx is broken, it’s no cakewalk for the Indians from here on. Dhoni has made his intentions pretty clear — this win was a special one for him, because this was probably his last Test in The Lords. Yes, you heard that right. So, even though they are at the peaks of ecstasy, this is also the perhaps the best opportunity for the younger crop to pick up tricks of the trade from the much-experienced Dhoni, at the right place and at the right time. For Dhoni, it would an opportune moment to pass on all the stuff that he’s managed to pick up in all of these international tours, for he also has the chance to test whether they have learnt anything at all. Overseas tours are not easy. That is evident from the fact that this is India’s first win at Lords after so long. If the Indians want to continue this momentum, the celebrations have to be cut short prematurely and the focus will have to be shifted to finishing the task at hand. This was just the second Test match and there are still 3 more to go. The English team would be waiting to plot a revenge and that would mean that they would look at delivering a fatal blow to the Indians. The Dhoni brigade needs to be prepared with plans and an execution plot. In a year’s time, they would be required to do this on their own. When the Big Four left, the void took long to fill. Dhoni, being the smart man he is, would know that. That makes it even more significant for him then, to groom the young ones and make them roaring tigers, not paper tigers.
He needs to teach them to keep calm and go about their business. He needs to teach them his wisecracks and his ear-numbing silence. Hr needs to teach them the art of cricket.