He rushed out of the dressing room with tears in his eyes,before laughing hysterically on being engulfed by his team-mates. Draped in the Indian flag,Sachin Tendulkar rode high on Yusuf Pathans shoulders,his exhausted face displaying every single emotion on the happy side of the spectrum,shining with the flash lights of a thousand clicking cameras. He may have achieved almost everything in the world of cricket,but on Saturday,Tendulkar threw the word almost out of his vocabulary,drowning himself in a sea of unprecedented celebrations. As he took a lap of honour around his home ground,33,000 fans screamed in pure ecstasy,congratulating him for finally achieving his holy grail at his sixth attempt the coveted World Cup trophy. The bandwagon passed Tendulkar from shoulder to shoulder,as they would do the shining golden trophy later,during their second lap around the ground. Tendulkar crouched over the broad shoulders of Harbhajan Singh,Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina along the way. It didnt seem a very comfortable ride for Tendulkar,but he was far from complaining. Never before had Tendulkar taken a lap around a stadium as a World Cup winner,let alone his home ground in Mumbai. And for that,he will have to thank his skipper M S Dhoni. With a mighty six into the midwicket stands,man of the match Dhoni went down on his knees,crying into Yuvraj Singhs shoulders. With 91 unbeaten runs,Dhoni came into form at just the grandest stage of them all at the Wankhede Stadium,helping India chase the highest total in any World Cup final along with Gautam Gambhir (97),finishing with 277/4 in reply to Sri Lankas 274 In the process,India became the first country ever to win the World Cup on their home soil,and only the third team after West Indies and Australia to win it multiple times. This is the proudest moment of my life. This just proves that it is never too late for anything, said Tendulkar,in what was his final attempt at a World Cup. But if Tendulkar still managed to hold it together,his closest allies Harbhajan and Yuvraj couldnt. Adjudicated Man of the 2011 World Cup for his contributions with both bat and ball in almost every single match,Yuvraj broke down uncontrollably in the middle of the pitch,weeping on S Sreesanths arms. After all those lows,I had to make a point. I wanted to do it for Sachin and the country,and of course,my guru. This is the best night of my life, said Yuvraj,unable to control the tears. Flaying the stump around in the huddle,Harbhajan looked at the bursting firecrackers,hugging everyone in sight from the groundsmen to the players to the support staff. This is to all the Indians. We did it for you India, he yelled into the microphone,before saying,This one is for our country,and every Indian around the world. You make us proud,we did this for you. When asked if it was heavy to carry Tendulkar on his young shoulders,Kohli said: He has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years,it is time we returned the effort. Thousands inside,and millions outside,raised the decibel level by a few notches in unconditional approval and happiness.
