Growing up in a country where cricket is a passion, obviously meant that most children in India grew up with the iconic figures of cricketers as role models, be it Sunil Gavaskar, who broke Sir Don Bradman's record of scoring maximum centuries in Test cricket, or Kapil Dev under whose captaincy India won their first World Cup way back in 1983 by beating the West Indies imagined and favored with the best pace attack of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner, the best starting pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, the best intermediate formation of Vice Captain Sir Vivian Richards and Captain Clive Lloyd with Larry Gomes, Gus Logie and Jeff Duzon. Against all odds, India successfully defended a modest total of 183 runs and defeated favorites and two-time world champions West Indies. Under the captaincy of Sunil Gavaskar, India won the Benson and Hedges World Series by defeating Pakistan in the final. India lost the 1987 World Cup semi-final against England, as Greham Gooch applied the sweep shot to good effect against the Indian spinners. The arrival of Saurav Ganguly as India captain has brought more vigor and competitiveness to Indian cricket. India lost the 2003 World Cup final to favorites Australia under the leadership of Ricky Ponting and featuring star players like Adam Gilchrist, Hayden, Martyn, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Then came the last World Cup in 2011, where India under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hailed as the best ever captain in the history of Indian cricket, defeated the reigning world champions Australia in the quarterfinals final in Ahmedabad, Pakistan, semi-final in Mohali and Sri Lanka in the final in Bombay. Captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni's winning shot, a huge six, forever erased the unpleasant memory of the defeat in the Sharjah Cup final, where on the last ball Pakistan needed four runs for victory, Chetan Sharma bowled a full to Javed Miadad which Miadad hit for a six and India lost the match. Cricket has sporting rivalries like Ashes between Australia and England and in the subcontinent the famous rivalry is India vs Pakistan, with India having a record of not losing a single World Cup match against Pakistan to date. Our generation is fortunate because although we were not born in the era of Sir Don Bradman, but we were truly fortunate to observe the genius of the great Sir Sachin R. Tendulkar. Sachin Tendulkar's presence has always given assurance to cricket fans in India and the world that India is capable of chasing any target or setting winning goals..