New Delhi [India], November 25 (ANI): India skipper for the Australia T20I series Suryakumar Yadav talked about the conversation the players had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the team’s loss in the World Cup final.
India entered the final riding high on a 10-match unbeaten run but ended up falling short against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the final of the tournament. Travis Head’s heroic ton guided the Baggy Greens to their sixth World Cup title with a comprehensive six-wicket victory.
Surya who led India to victory against the mighty Australia in the first T20I match admitted that the team is disappointed but the support of the fans as well as PM Modi’s visit to the dressing room lifted the mood of the players.
“As you all know, it has been 4-5 days since the World Cup finished. We are all disappointed. It felt really good seeing the support of our fans in India and across the world. I would like to say that this is a sport and it teaches us a lot. Right after the end of the game, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi met all of us in the dressing room and motivated us. He told us it is a sport, ups and downs are a part of it, you have to take it in your stride. It will take some time to get past this. It was a big thing that he came to meet us. He is our country’s leader and he motivated us, we will try to play better in the upcoming tournaments,” Surya said in a video by BCCI.
Former cricketers Virender Shewag and Ravi Shastri also hailed the PM’s visit to the dressing room after India’s crushing defeat.
Speaking to ANI, Sehwag said, “It is very rare for a prime minister to meet players in the dressing room and lift their spirits after a crushing defeat. I have never seen a prime minister taking time out of his busy schedule to lend a shoulder to players heartbroken after a defeat. It was an incredible gesture by Prime Minister Modi to visit the dressing room and boost the morale of the boys. It was a time when the boys needed some hand-holding, a gesture of solidarity and support. In such lows, you need someone to comfort you like family members do. I believe it was a touching gesture that will go a long way to motivating our boys ahead of future engagements, especially multilateral events. It will motivate us to cross the final hurdle next time.”
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, too, hailed PM Modi’s gesture of visiting the dressing room and catching up with the ‘Men in Blue’.
“I think it’s an outstanding gesture simply because I know what a dressing room feels like and I have been in that dressing room for more than seven years as a coach of India, apart from many years as a cricketer. It is a gut-wrenching feeling and when you are down. When you get someone like the Prime Minister of the country coming and visiting the dressing room, it is something massive because it can lift the spirits of the players. This is no ordinary man walking in. When you have the Prime Minister of a country walking into the dressing room, it is special. I know what the players would have felt like, I know what I would have felt like you know if I was a coach of India in that moment,” Shastri said. (ANI)
