It was the historic night of 2nd April, 2011.  The venue; Wankhede stadium of Mumbai and the occasion was the grandest of them all; the finals of the 2011 ICC cricket World Cup. India in a bid to retain the cup after 28 years were locking horns with Sri Lanka. Oh, by the way I forgot to introduce myself; Hi, I am the white, 5.5 ounce Kookabura cricket ball which was the cynosure of a billion eyes during that night of 2nd April. The moment when Indian skipper, M.S. Dhoni walloped me for a mighty six over long on to win the World Cup has got etched in the minds of the cricket fans for decades to come and I am honoured to have been an integral part of the Indian cricket folklore.

I still remember, it was the 49th over of the second innings. India needed just five to win off the remaining twelve balls.There was tension all round; I could feel it. The Lankan skipper, Kumar Sangakkara was juggling me in his hands.  It was as if he knew that the end was imminent but he still wanted to delay the victory celebrations of a billion people. He was clearly in jeopardy. First he handed me over to the legendary spinner Muralitharan but it was not long before I quickly changed hands and was finally lying with pacer Nuwan Kulasekara. You could almost feel the anxiety. He was simply changing grips every time, clearly suggesting that he was in two minds. One minute he thought of  bowling a toe crusher and the very next moment he wanted to send in a bouncer to surprise the batsman. Since those were the dying moments of the game, I was clearly losing my shine. So the question of swing was out of contention. I was totally drenched with dew droplets which was making things all the more difficult for Kulasekara, but finally the pacer seemed to have arrived on a decision. Facing him was India’s batting mainstay Yuvraj Singh.

Honestly speaking, my heartbeats were increasing by leaps and bounds. I knew that sooner than later, I was going to be part of something special, a moment which I will savour throughout my life. The bowler was ready and so was the batsman; Kulasekara came charging in like a raging bull and surprisingly, pitched me on a fuller length outside off stump and I was, with great ease, squeezed out to point for a single. The scoreboard read- Four needed of Eleven with the Indian captain on strike. The heat inside the stadium was leaving the millions and millions of fans gasping for breath but the deafening noise..Goshh..it was just amazing. It seemed the entire nation was up on its feet to witness “History In The Making”. In came Kulasekara and once again pitched me on a fuller length and finally the moment of joy arrived- MSD sent me flying over long on! The shot was indeed awe-inspiring and more than anything else made me feel so proud.

Minutes later, the Mumbai skies broke into a kaleidoscope of varying fireworks. My perpetrator MSD, adorned this historic shot with : “The Twirl”. A shotgun swivel of his bat.

I was overwhelmed by the response I got in the stands- everyone out there wanted to feel me.  One minute I was lying in hands of a fan who, with a grinning face, mugged at the nearest TV camera and the very next moment, someone was giving me an affectionate rub against his jeans.  I still remember, there was a young lad who took me in his hand and got a picture clicked by what seemed to be an I-phone. All the while, I was ecstatic-just ecstatic. After having been beaten all over the park by those powerful willows of the star batsmen, I was completely knackered but the love and affection of the die hard cricket fans pumped a breath of fresh air in me.

To be honest, MSD’s innings that night was just beyond words: An extra-ordinary sequence of shots where he pulled me, nudged me around and finally walloped me to get the team past the finishing line. It was the experience of a life-time.  Not many get the chance to kiss the beautiful willow of Sachin Tendulkar, but I was lucky enough, though I was shattered when I became his nemesis. That said, the next morning the world woke up to a new World Champion team and image of MSD hitting me over long on had embellished the front pages of every newspaper and brought to end an arduous wait of over 28 years. I had found a special place in the hearts of a billion cricket fans.

And what happened to me after the 2nd April night? Ah well, I found a place in the coveted auction list of the ICC and was priced at a whopping rate. I was presented to the winning bidder in a beautiful timber presentation box accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from ICC. This was my journey- A journey which will forever be remembered for its sheer historic importance.

Thank You Men In Blue!