OZ: THE WORLD CUP'S BIG DADDIES ARE BACK WHERE THEY BELONG

YOU are 11. The cricket World Cup is on TV and you are watching it with interest. The last time it was on, Ajay Jadeja treated Waqar Younis like a club bowler. This time, you vow to watch all the matches.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

Sachin Tendulkar, your parents tell you, stands between an Indian win and defeat. So, when he is dismissed cheaply against Australia while chasing a big score in the 1999 edition, you go out and play hide and seek. A few weeks later, Australia win the World Cup.

But it's okay. You are just a kid and you won't even remember it when school reopens in a few weeks.

You are 15. Time for 10th standard board exams. You struggle with Mathematics.

More obtuse the angles in your geometry textbook, the more acute your problems. Another World Cup rolls around. India are looking okay. Australia are loaded with match-winners.

Tendulkar, you know by now, is a totemic presence. Chasing 360, though, isn't going to happen. Australia win another World Cup. You are a teen who's obsessed with the game.

So the final is a heartbreak.