D
ashing Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara perceives, in the World Cup triumph of M.S. Dhoni and his men, a metaphor for a new India on the rise, confident, aggressive, and incredibly smart. He tells Outlook: “The coming together of Team India in this World Cup was a significant representation of the changes that have taken place in the past few years not just in Indian cricket, but also in the nation.” Sangakkara should know—he has been participating in the Indian Premier League, has toured India several times, and has the brains to comprehend societal changes.‘It’s India’s Time’
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara on how Team India is the definitive symbol of a resurgent nation
What caught Sangakkara’s attention were the players who symbolise Young India in Dhoni’s team. Younger Indian cricketers such as Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir embody emerging India’s cool aggression. “They are poised to become world cricket’s future,” Sangakkara says. He praises the new generation of Indian cricketers for shouldering the responsibility of their team, of mixing talent with strategy. “Their nerves were strong and their responses to tough situations on the field were excellent,” he adds.
In many ways, Dhoni epitomises this new India. Sangakkara says the Indian captain is really “street-smart on the field”. “MS thinks on his feet,” he says. And because of this attribute, Sangakkara says he wasn’t surprised to see the Indian captain promote himself in the batting order during India’s run chase in the final. “Dhoni is no stickler for routine,” declares Sangakkara. “Watching Dhoni in the tournament was a revelation. Not just for me, but for many around the world.”
With his World Cup victory, Dhoni may have became the poster-boy of Indian cricket’s rise, but Sangakkara credits former captain Sourav Ganguly for India’s metamorphosis: “Ganguly is responsible for the firebrand image of Indian cricket.”
The boy from Ranchi has erected the dream-house of a nation upon the foundation the prince from Calcutta laid.
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