Dear Mister

William Dalrymple,

Thank you for writing 'The Last Mughal'.

Regards,
ADR

can now die in peace...

the No. 1 Test team.
the No. 1 ODI team.
the WORLD CHAMPIONS.

Sachin has a world cup. And an entire generation of Indians can now die in peace.
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If 1983 inspired millions of Indians to dream, this victory will endow generations with self-belief.
There is after all a world of difference between going in as underdogs and winning it as favorites.
We beat all the good teams enroute. Dhoni and Yuvraaj sail us through the final. The captain hits the winning runs.
Perfect script.
Mr. Dhoni, take a bow. You are our best captain ever.
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And yes, I ended up in tears.
Seeing Sachin, Yuvraaj, Haribhajan, Shewag, Dhoni and others in tears was overwelhming.

the package deal...

the joy of a cricket series has always been a combination of good cricket being played, nail-biting finishes, Sachin doing well, the build-up to a match in print and TV and ofcourse the postmortem. And it's the same as we count down the hours to the World Cup Final. India vs Srilanka.
The experience is incomplete without pouring over the newspapers (websites now) for any related article. I just have to read what everybody who has anything to do with cricket has to say. Can't blame me when it's the only thing I can get my mind to focus on. Having finished reading every article in every newspaper/website national/international that I can think of, watched every related program on every channel, I am still hungry. I even finished Guardian's OBO and BBC's 'as it happened' coverage of India's Quarter and Semi final matches, even though I watched those matches live.
Give me more!
cold analytics, impassioned babble, nostalgic whirlpool, over the top worship, an outsider's view of India's obsession with cricket, outlandish phrases, unsuccessful attempts to capture the mood, excuse to go hyberbole, Sachin's greatness, Indian cricket team's burden of expectations...
Give me more!
commentary, features, opinions, editorials, blogs, analysis...
Give me more!
I have to remain sane for atleast another 12 hours.