India is World Champions!

The young Indian cricket team made history today by defeating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final of Twenty 20 World Cup! Wow...what a match it was. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Sreesanth taking an easy catch. Look at the video below.

Nihir, Janhavi and I got up at 5 in the morning to watch the finals. Perhaps, this is the earliest I have woken up in the last few years (not even for my exams, classes, flights or interviews!). And believe me, every moment was worth it.

India has won a world cup after a long long wait - 24 years and six World Cups later. Last time, it was Kapil Dev's young team who brought world cup to India and this time, it was young, ambitious and ever-enthusiastic team of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who brought laurels for Indian cricket.

The way Indian players celebrated during the presentation ceremony says it all - what this win meant to them.

It will be cherished by everyone for a long time to come.

Two pictures tell the full story

India is in the finals of Twenty20 World Cup!!! They comprehensively defeated the world champions Australia. Two pictures tell the full story:

Chak De India

India is going to play against Australia in the semi-finals of Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in few hours from now. Nobody predicted that this young Indian team would do well in this world cup given the fact that Indian trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid opted out of the tournament. However, the boys surprised everybody including themselves by reaching semis.

Apart from tremendous batting display (e.g. Yuvraj's six sixes, Rohit Sharma quick fire fifty etc), the major differentiating factor in this tournament is the fielding. Just look at the breathtaking catch by Dinesh Karthik:

India has just lost one game against New Zealand so far. Can they beat the world champions Australia? I hope they bring laurels to India as the young girls did in the movie - Chak De India.

What an innings?

I couldn't believe when I saw six sixes in a row by Yuvraj Singh in Twenty20 World Cup match against England. Yuvraj's batting reminded me of his bowling when he conceded five sixes in a row to Dimitri Mascarenhas few weeks ago. It was a sweet revenge for him!

Brooklyn Bridge

Some pictures from my walk on Brooklyn Bridge, New York City: