India defended their T20 World Cup title with a thumping 96-run win over New Zealand in Ahmedabad, the venue where they had lost the 2023 ODI World Cup final to Australia. Here’s how their players reacted after the win.
Abhishek Sharma: ‘It wasn’t an easy tournament for me’
“I wanted to share this before as well but today is the best day to talk about this thing: The coach and the captain had faith in me. Even I was doubting myself because it wasn’t an easy tournament for me. I hadn’t experienced [anything like] this before – playing my first World Cup. But everyone was so like, you are going to win one big game, one big game. So I was doing my process but it was not that easy as a young player, just one or two years in the Indian team and then going through this phase. But I just love this team for the way they treated me in those days; I have never felt this way before.
“It was not that easy for me. Through the whole year, I was doing so well for the team but at the big occasion, I wasn’t able to do well. But the faith and confidence the players and the coaches showed in me… I got emotional in between as well. I wanted to do really well in all the games but I couldn’t. Then I was like, I wanted to talk to the coach or the captain. They always said one thing: ‘You are going to win us the big games.” I just wanted to wait for that day. You cannot ask for a better day than this.”
Suryakumar Yadav: ‘Bumrah is a natioinal treasure’
“I think it will take a little bit of time [to sink in], but definitely very happy with what has happened today. It has been a long journey, started post 2024 World Cup when the BCCI, Jay [Shah] bhai, the secretary at that time, Rohit [Sharma] bhai and everyone showed faith in me, gave me an opportunity to lead this wonderful side. And then it was a long, long cycle coming here again at the Narendra Modi Stadium and doing it. I think it’s a special feeling.
“We knew we were playing some good cricket throughout the two years and it was going really well. We just wanted to follow all the good habits which we followed in the 2024 T20 World Cup, tell the boys the same thing, what the feeling of winning a World Cup is, how we wanted to play in the bilateral series, that taste we wanted to take forward into the T20 World Cup. That was imbibed by everyone.
[On showing faith in Abhishek, Varun Chakravarthy and Sanju Samson] “It’s really important to understand what they are capable of, and I knew they had the match-winners in them. The timing was perfect for Sanju to come in. Varun Chakravarthy, Abhishek Sharma, the world No. 1 players, we always knew that they had something special, no bigger stage than a final to do something. And also how Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel [performed], they have been in the circuit for a really long time, taking care of each other with all the support staff. I think it was very, very special.
[On Bumrah] “Like Sanju said in the last game that he wanted to give his Man-of-the-Match [award] to Boom… Once in a generation bowler, I can call him a national treasure right now. He knows what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, the best in the business, and hopefully he keeps doing that.”
Varun Chakravarthy: ‘Abhishek and I would keep changing seats’
“It feels amazing. Two back-to-back ICC trophies, it feels surreal. I am very happy for Abhishek that he was able to score today. He used to sit next to me… we would keep changing seats. We were like, ‘What’s happening? Nothing is working out for us.’ And finally, we have won the cup, so everything is zeroed out.”
Shivam Dube: ‘My role was to hit big sixes’
“My role always was to hit some big sixes – that was my role from the first day of the tournament. Sometimes some other batsmen would go up but I always back myself that whenever I get the opportunity, I will hit some sixes. [On his bowling] I have developed a lot but I didn’t bowl much this tournament. But I am going to come better next time. It’s one of the biggest stages today, the crowd was amazing. This tournament belongs to the supporters of the Indian cricket team. Their prayers and love supported us a lot in bad situations. All the credit to all the Indian cricket team supporters.”
Tilak Varma: ‘Next couple of days will be a big party’
[On batting at different positions] “For the last one and a half years, we prepared to bat at any position for the team. That’s what we had decided – whatever the team needs, we are up for it. [On catching] Whenever the team needed, the boys always stood up. In the semi-final against England, the way Axar [Patel] took the catches… Today also I won’t say we were at our best in the field, but the way us – me and Ishan [Kishan] – took some good catches. So at the end of the day, we are happy that we have won the final. The next couple of days will be a big party with the boys. We had decided that after the final, we were going to do a big party. We will take a rest for a couple of days and be back for the IPL.”
Arshdeep Singh: ‘Everyone is a match-winner in this team’
“I just went to say sorry to [Daryl] Mitchell. My throw reverse-swung more than expected and hit him on the body. So I told him it was not intentional. [Comparing to the 2024 T20 World Cup win] I don’t know, it feels good because we have won. We will get to really know in a couple of days when emotions actually sink in. It’s a wonderful team – everyone is a match-winner. So right from the start we had the belief that we would do well. The result is icing on the cake. [On the bowlers’ role] The bowlers’ role was that if the batters were scoring 250, we had to restrict the opposition under 250. If we were bowling first, the aim was to keep them to as low a total as possible so that our batters had the chance to bat freely.”
