Indian Cricket: A destiny waits, a nation hopes

The Indian Cricket season has begun, and if you happen to be an Indian cricket fan you would know that India hasn't had such an exciting season of Cricket to look forward to for the past many years.

To be specific, the season is set to begin with a two test series against New Zealand, followed by a Triangular series between India, New Zealand and Australia.

The year ends with a full-fledged tour to the "Down Under."

The Indian Cricket team has had a break of almost four months and now the fans are hungry for some electrifying Cricket action, and, honestly, they couldn't have asked for anything more than this upcoming season, which begins on October 8th.

However, the fans are not the ones who will put the sweat, blood and tears into the game.

No, they will not be the ones whose careers will be made or destroyed, and indeed they will not be the ones who would get the flak if things somehow went wrong.

No, it will not be the fans that will make the difference!

Then who will?

The answer is fairly straight -- it will be those "Few Good Men" who are selected to represent their country.

It will be those men that will make the ultimate difference between an exciting season or a terribly disappointing season!

For the Indian cricket team, this season is going to be a lot more than just an exciting duel that would be played over a period of some months.

It would be an opportunity, a chance of a lifetime, a path towards greatness and into the history pages and... wait!

But, what if things were to go wrong?

What about that painful realization of reality, which would be so terribly humbling?

What about that broken reputation, that was developed with so much of hard work and passion over the last two years?

What about the criticism and above all what about the faith and trust of the millions of cricket followers in India?

Yes, indeed, what happens if everything was to go wrong? One shudders to even think about the answers to the above questions and yet they are as close to being true as they are to being proved as imaginations of a pessimistic individual!

Yes, the path that the Indian team walks for the next few months would be a path that would lead to two highly contrasting destinations -- one towards Glory and the other towards solemn loneliness and pain.

The last two years have been exceptional for Indian Cricket and for the first time in many years, the team has looked like a unit that is truly fit and ready for combat against any opponent and more importantly-Anywhere!

India's success over the past two years is not merely a topic of subjective discussion, but is underlined by specific achievements.

From being the World Cup 2003 runners-up to the joint winners of the Champions Trophy.

From winning the Nat west Tri-Series in England in 2002 to beating England in a test-match at Headingley.

Indian Cricket, generally, has had a brilliant time.

However, where there is a high there is also a low and Indian Cricket also has had its share.

None worse then their tour to New Zealand at the end of the year 2002, where the Indians lost both the Test Series as well as the One Day series.

It was a loss that hurt and humiliated the whole team and destroyed certain reputations.

If that was not enough, it made a team of 16 hardworking, sincere and committed men into a topic of teatime ridicule and bashing.

It was, in the real sense of the word, a complete "Nightmare!"

However, it is a tribute to this new Indian side's attitude and ability, that after all the criticism and humiliation that they faced in New Zealand, they struck back and made it to the finals of the Cricket World Cup, and honestly made a lot of people "eat humble pie."

The team lost only two games in the World Cup out of the 11 it played and, on both occasions, it was the Australians that spoiled their party, first in the league stage and then in the Final.

Now, the Indians are all set to face both these teams who have been their nemesis over the past few months, and that is why the battle is going to be a highly intense and emotional one.

As a matter of fact, the season ahead is already being named a "Grudge Season," and the word revenge has been associated rather loosely with it.

Even though I don't believe in such terms being used in sport, there is something about this forthcoming season that even I am finding it hard to describe as anything other than by those terms.

Indeed it's payback time, and it is this revenge angle that has taken the hardcore Cricket fans to euphoria by adding that extra spice to this whole upcoming season.

Though on the flip side, such hype is bound to create extra pressure on the Indian team and, therefore, their resolve and ability will be tested to the fore in these upcoming opening matches.

Revenge and grudge aside, the season is going to see some of the most talented cricketers go head-to-head against each other.

This is especially true in the Triangular series between India, Australia and New Zealand, which is going to be an absolute Battle Royal as the top three One day sides in the world take on each other.

Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Nathan Astle, Rahul Dravid, and Brett Lee, just to name a few, are all superstars of the modern game. To be able to watch all of them in one tournament is a treat that no cricket fan would want to miss.

Then again, once the dust has settled, once the euphoria has come to rest, once the questions have been answered, one thing is for sure -- Indian Cricket will have come full circle.

After that, whether history is made or the loneliness that accompanies defeat is experienced, we Indians will continue to be optimistic and rely upon that one beautiful feeling, that one eternal word -- "Hope!"