SRI LANKA`s fairy tale of CONVICTION

“Champions save their best for the Finals”. Sri Lanka did just that and proved this line perfectly as they outclassed INDIA in their fifth World Cup Final after losing out in four earlier finals of World Cup in the past seven years. No other team has appeared in these many finals of World Cup as SRI LANKA in the last seven years and this win could not have been more befitting as they won against the team who held all the other major TITLES in limited overs cricket except the WORLD TWENTY20.
Their bowlers produced that astonishing performance which no other team could do earlier against a daunting T20 batting line up of INDIA, keeping in mind, they had not lost even a single match in the entire tournament. Sri Lanka`s loss to England made them contemplate upon their best available options. The proud moment for me was when they saved themselves from what we term in management education as ‘ESCALATION of COMMITMENT’. They immediately replaced the ‘demystified’ Ajantha Mendis with their best spinner Rangana Herath. That was one BIG decision they made which showed they had the hunger to win this T20 World Cup. Another major decision was taken by their captain Dinesh Chandimal to sit himself out. We had seen foreign captains sitting themselves out in the IPL but this was a first in International cricket.
The two modern day legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara received the perfect farewell. Mahela was steering the ship with his Old yet perfect hands towards the win before he played a rash shot. But Sangakkara on the other end just conveyed him through his eyes: “I will get you this World Cup Bro”. And he did that by showing the World how it is done.
On the other hand, India should keep their heads high. The weather Gods altered the conditions a little bit right before the start just to remind them mockingly: “You cannot win the next World Cup without having a sound Fast bowling attack.” India had opened all their trump cards earlier in the tournament and Sri Lanka analyzed them, did their homework well to produce an emphatic victory. One should not hesitate to say India was the best team in the entire tournament which fell a step short of becoming the CHAMPION team. A confident Raina, a perfect combo spin pack of Amit Mishra & Ravi Ashwin and a great match winner, a fighter in the Man of the Tournament Virat Kohli is something Indians can take forward. Scratchy Yuvraj Singh seems to be the forgotten Hero at the moment who I felt had cocooned himself and his bat right before the match. The fighter who fought against cancer will be back after all, it was all in his mind. As Dhoni, I would take this tournament as a stepping stone towards the World Cup 2015 with many highs.
In the end, it was a matter of conviction which Sri Lanka had built over seven years with their last four defeats in World Cup Finals and something that India lacked. Well played Sri Lanka.