It was more than a cricket final. The theme of some kind of Sri Lanka-India war had sunk into the Indian people. The Indian media portrayed the 2011 Cricket World Cup final as the modern version of the fabled Rama-Ravana war.
Some Indian TV stations showed people dressed like King Rama and Ravana battling their war with the bat and ball. Yes, the area surrounding the Wankhede Stadium looked like a war zone as it was filled with thousands of policemen and women along with various security units which we could not even recognise.
With scores of VVIPs, including the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his entourage, the Indian security officials were not ready to take chances. Even the journalists covering the cup final had to go through a harrowing check at three different places and they even removed the small change from their wallets as a security precaution.
Earlier there was confusion when it was reported that the Lankan president’s request for forty invitations was turned down by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and only 20 offered. It is also reported that the BCCI which invited the Lankan president settled the issue amicably.
Pregnant with the security precautions, no private vehicles were allowed in the adjacent areas of the stadium and the spectators were asked to occupy their seats hours before the match began. As a direct result of that, the crowd filled in while the players were warming up before the match and the thunderous roar of a partisan crowd began to echo.
The pressure of the epic final began even before a ball was bowled. There were various conspiracy theories about the toss and how the captains often do not see which way the coin turns. Immediately, there was confusion regarding as to who won the toss initially.
Replays of the toss indicated decisively that Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara called heads the first time as well, and the call was audible to the television producers, it was reported. In the noise, Dhoni misheard it as a 'tails' call and he turned towards TV convener Ravi Shastri saying, "we will bat."
However neither Shastri nor match referee Jeff Crowe had heard Sangakkara's call, due to the noise. Then Shastri looked across to Crowe. The referee said, "I didn't hear it." There was then a brief conversation and the toss was made again and Sangakkara called right once again.
Why this difference?
In the Cricket World Cup semi final between India and Pakistan, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani were present and the two teams were introduced to them.But at yesterday’s cup final, President Mahinda Rajapaksa was seen seated next to India’s ceremonial president Pratibha Patil and the players were not introduced to them. Premier Singh was also not present. |
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