Cries of ‘do or die’, effigies burn, houses wreck - win or all you do is sigh!
Post the humiliating defeat first up against minnows of the Subcontinent, something colossal was required from India’s repertoire - if those big names on paper didn’t click here, the ‘men in blue’ would have found themselves written off.
By far the best batting line-up in world cricket, when it got going there certainly was no stopping - Uthappa would rue his missing the party, while the likes of Sehwag, Yuvraj and Sachin found grove, Ganguly was slow to fire but a healthy contributor with all wrapping at 413/5 in 50 - a record total in the World Cups.
India comfortably powered home against the World tourney debutants Bermuda - with a triumphant 257-run mortuary to record the biggest ODI victory.
India seemed a transformed unit - playing the waiting game, realizing not all can be dispatched over the ropes. Pleasure of the eye to see the out of touch ‘Nawab of Nazafgarh’ middle the ball well, striking that quick fire ton - that’ll surely do a lot of good to his confidence, though the question of returning to form... with Viru you never know?
The policy of experimentation still continued and for a change it clicked - the batting order was reshuffled, after Sehwag at down one it was Dhoni at two with Yuvraj and Tendulkar on three and four while the ‘Wall’ lowest at five. Yuvraj was the pick in the middle order - scoring a fiery 83 of 43, and Sachin in his sublime best with 57*.
Bermuda never looked with a realistic chance of chasing 414 - though for the run rate the margin of victory was to be more than 243 for India, and with some quality bowling (atleast looked quality against Bermuda), except some resistance from Hemp no other player was able to handle the pace from Zaheer and twists n turns from Kumble (the pick of the bowlers), and the entire team bowled out for 156 in the 44th.
No doubt, the win puts India second in the pool on run rate with a chance to qualify for the super eight stage - still the bottom line remains a gritty performance against the Lankan Tigers or else the hopes of 1983 relive will remain a distant dream.
