The India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed his emotion after the national team, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, went on to win their second title in the T20 World Cup history, beating South Africa at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, in Barbados, by a margin of seven runs.
On a slow, low, and dry surface, India captain Rohit Sharma, on winning the toss, decided to bat first, expecting the chase to get quite tricky because of the slowness of the surface. They found themselves under tremendous pressure at the start, losing three quick wickets, before, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube showed their brilliance.
They somehow pushed the score to 176/7 in their 20-overs, as Jasprit Bumrah sent back an underperformed Reeza Hendricks to the dressing room. The important part was to keep their nerves down under pressure.
‘It was truly a full circle moment without any doubt’- Ravichandran Ashwin
For a player like Ravichandran Ashwin, it was quite rare to see him showing his emotions and that shows how vital the win was for the Indian cricket team and their players and the fans around the world.
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For a moment, it felt like India would fall short, because of the way their spinners were belted around the park by the power of Heinrich Klassen, but there was a shift of momentum. Hardik Pandya came back to send him back to the dressing room, as David Miller found himself in a position, where South Africa needed 16 of six balls.
Ravichandran Ashwin, speaking on his YouTube channel spoke about how the feeling was for the team and the players, having waited for an ICC Trophy for long 11-years.
‘Unbelievable. I have watched cricket through the years, I have played it, I have won trophies such as the World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013.’ An emotional Ravichandran Ashwin expressed on his YouTube Channel. ‘But, the way that the players emoted upon winning, what it meant to them all, with Dravid bowing out in 2007 to Rohit and Virat coming so close to winning multiple titles, it was truly a full circle moment without any doubt.’
Another former India batter Robin Uthappa remained in tears and shared the trails that the national players go through.
‘Had you talked to me 20 minutes earlier, I would have been in tears. I was so full of emotion, thinking about each individual player and what they had been through.’ Robin Uthappa reflected on this.
He also added that there were many times when people doubted the player’s skill but still asked themselves and still did the job showing how tough they are from inside.
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‘To have put with the criticism, the trolling, to go through the struggles and hardships and hate, is not easy.’ Uthappa remarked on the same video. ‘For people to keep continually doubting your ability, you begin to doubt yourself at some point and you being to ask yourself, “Is it possible?’
‘I could feel every person’s emotion so strongly. I cried for each of them after their victory. I thanked God, and I now thank every cricketer who’s played for India. This win was so long in the making.’ The veteran concluded.
It was quite unbelievable that the praying for the whole nation during the last six balls in the game was for Hardik Pandya. That same Hardik Pandya for whom they were booing and making noises on his outside life. The cricket and the life of the players is being acted like a chess, there can be a turnaround at any point in time.
