Indian cricket's cup of joy is full till the brim and the back page banner heading in our sister publication Gulf Daily News said it all. It was indeed a DREAM DOUBLE.
Indian spectators must have been spoilt for choice on Super Sunday. Apart from victories in the tri-series in Sydney and the Junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, the much-maligned Indian hockey team too got its act right by scoring a thumping 8-0 victory in the Olympic qualifiers in Santiago, Chile.
So, it was three victories in three different continents. The last time the Indians achieved something similar was way back in the 80s when the Indian cricket team won three titles in three continents in the space of a couple of years - the 1983 World Cup in England, the World Championship of Cricket in Australia and the Asia Cup in Sharjah.
But Sunday's victories came within hours of each other overlapping one celebration with the other. This was something special for a country with a surfeit of superstars but severely starved of success.
These victories have come at a time when another important sport - tennis - is hit by controversies, both on and off the court. While a revolt in the Davis Cup team following differences between captain Leander Paes and his players led by Mahesh Bhupathi, Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna is threatening India's future, Sania Mirza is flattering to deceive.
A quarter-final berth remains a bridge too far for the India diva as it proved in her first three tournaments of 2008 - the Australian, Doha and Dubai Opens. To compound matters, Mirza has withdrawn from the Bangalore Open due to pressure from fanatically religious groups and is now planning to shift her base to a foreign location.
Cricket, by contrast, is making India shine. A victory in the Twenty20 World Cup last year has already revolutionised the game in the country as the recent 'Great Auction' of the Indian Premier League so well demonstrated. It clearly overshadowed the controversy surrounding the rebel Indian Cricket League.
I liked the Indian cricket victories. Both were not spectacular in terms of runs scored, wickets taken or catches held. They were not intimidating either, but certainly intense affairs with consistency being the defining factor. It was remarkable team efforts, a slow and steady approach winning the race so to say.
While the seniors chased a modest target (240) in Sydney, the juniors defended a meagre total (159, later revised to 116 from 25 overs because of rain) in Kuala Lumpur. Both needed a common sense and collective effort, and that was exactly what was on view. The juniors matched the seniors ball-for-ball and run-for-run.
I watched both the matches causing much damage to the buttons on my TV remote. It was exhilarating stuff, similar to the one I experienced almost 25 years ago in front of a battered black and white TV set when India won the 1983 World Cup.
It was a glorious summer day at Lord's compared to the wet and soggy Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. On that day, Kapil's Devils bravely defended what many considered an inadequate 183. Balwinder Singh Sandhu's late in-cutter clipping Gordon Greenidge's off-stump, Kapil running backwards at midwicket to take a skier of Viv Richards and Mohinder Amarnath ambling in to bowl his seam-up stuff are still fresh in the mind's eye.
Virat Kohli's youngsters were equally inspiring. The effort was sincere, the self-belief admirable and the strong will to win obvious. One could see shades of a Kapil Dev or a Mohinder Amarnath in some of them.
The same qualities oozed from the seniors in Sydney. Sachin Tendulkar in particular was remarkably restrained and the fulcrum of India's batting with the young Rohit Sharma a perfect foil.
It was a remarkable scene as a refined Tendulkar and a raw Sharma guided India to victory - the junior prodigy matching the senior pro both in attitude and application. Indian cricket is certainly in safe and strong hands.
