Cricket Victory Boosts India's Confidence

A quarter of the way through India's initially nervy run chase against Sri Lanka in the final of the cricket World Cup on Saturday at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, television cameras zoomed in on a puzzling sight. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was sitting in the players' pavilion, flashing a smile. To be smiling at such a tense moment, when it looked like his team was falling apart with two senior star batsmen dismissed, seemed absurd.

Was the captain smiling with resignation that the hopes of a billion Indians of winning the game's biggest prize for a second time - would be dashed? Was it bravado? Was it belief in his abilities to craft a comeback?