A nation roared and the whole world sat up to notice the Indian team’s supremacy over world cricket. A volcano of joy erupted as Dhoni slammed the final six of the game. It was pure passion that won us the match last night and we can all proudly say ‘Saare jahaan se acha, Hindustan hamara.’

After the win I felt like a proud man, but above all a proud Indian.

The best thing about this victory was that it was total team effort. In the quarters against Australia, it was Yuvraj and Raina who took the team to victory. In the semis versus Pakistan, it was the bowlers who helped India defend a modest total. And in the final against Sri Lanka, it was Gambhir and Dhoni who played match-winning innings. Almost all the players stood up to be counted.

The Indian team was like one family, with one vision and one mission - the triumph of the spirit of India.

Honour is just an itch in youthful blood to do acts extravagantly good.

There is another thing this win has done. It has produced so many role models. In our part of the world there are three things that impact our lives almost everyday in a big way - politics, films and cricket. While films produce only reel life heroes, cricket produces real life heroes. As for our politics and politicians the less said the better. They wallow in corruption like a rhino in an African pool. They obviously cannot be role models. When we look around us today, all we find is another scam, another big corruption racket and so on.

In such a scenario, it is refreshing to have real life heroes from the sporting field someone the youth of India can look up to and attempt to emulate their achievements. Today, in other fields, I don’t suppose we can claim wholeheartedly that we are the best in the world. But yes when it comes to cricket we can proudly say that we are the best. A good example is the best sermon you can preach. The Indian team with its performance in this World Cup has endeared itself to the people and has made room in a billion hearts. It has left an indelible impression on the sands of time. It is also the sort of moment that I can narrate to my grandchildren.

There is now a sound system of replacement in place in Indian cricket. This system is throwing up replacements at a fast pace and no one in the team can be complacent. All this also stems from the Mothership that is Test cricket as there is no fruit without the root. The Indian team achieved the number one status in Test cricket and everything is flowing from that source.

Dhoni also showed that he is indeed Captain Cool. He reserved his best batting display for the finals and achieved the final runs in style. The Sri Lankans too can be proud of their achievement. It is not a small thing to reach two back-to-back finals in the World Cup. They made some mistakes in their team selection for the finals and also thought they had the game sewn up after claiming the wickets of Sehwag and Tendulkar early. Most people in the stadium also thought it was curtains for the Indians after these two batsmen fell.

But the Indians fought back quite impressively and Gambhir and Dhoni in particular were outstanding.

Vande kaho, kaho mataram

Baat hai apni aan ki

Baat hai apni shaan ki

Jai Bharat Mahaan ki