The day 13 December 2014, when we lost to Australia in Cricket and Pakistan in Hockey
A day of so near yet so far…
How India snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,
twice!
A few hours and two losses.
Both contests in sports close to our heart, In both
games, the end looked so different just before the end.
In both games, we were so near yet so far.
The Venue- Kalinga Stadium, the match- Champions trophy
Hockey Semi Finals.
Till the fag end of the game, we were in it.
Till the game had just two minutes in it, we had a
chance.
Then we lost, it was so near yet so far.
India and Pakistan, separated by a border.
They eight times finalist, thrice champions trophy
winners.
We, twice semi finalists.
In Hockey, we are so near yet so far!
They won the
match, made it to the finals.
But, they stood defeated in victory,
With their vulgar behaviour and boorish after match gestures.
Thank God, we are, from them, so near yet so far!
The venue – Adelaide, the sport- Cricket.
Again, we were so near yet so far.
We were on the brink of a win.
Between Virat and Murali, we traipsed past impossible,
improbable, possible towards probable.
We were a few runs shy of greatness, but we lost.
It was so near yet so far.
Nathan Lyon a
spinner. A conventional offie.
Karn Sharma a spinner, albeit a leggie.
One bowled with his heart, the other without much guile.
In the end, they were so near yet so far.
Virat Kohli- a prince on the way to becoming a king.
Rohit Sharma, a wannabe prince.
The distance between them a mere 22 yards.
Yet they were so near yet so far.
One played with purpose, for pride.
The other played as if the cricketer in him died.
His failure set of an inexorable slide.
We had to take another defeat in our stride.
On the day, we were so near yet so far.
In our ability to finish, between the Aussies and Us,
In
our aggression, between the Pakis and Us,
In our ability to convert the chances
into wins,
We were so near yet so far.
