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The Indian men's cricket team arrived back home following a gold medal win in the cricket tournament at the recently concluded Asian Games.
Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, and Arshdeep Singh were among the players who were captured at the IGI Airport in New Delhi. Coming to the gold medal match against arch-rivals Pakistan, India opted to bat first after winning the toss. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's blitz of 15 in nine balls, with two sixes, was short-lived, but Abhishek Sharma delivered an explosive fifty, scoring 61 in 28 balls, with three fours and seven sixes. Ishan Kishan (20) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (21) kept the ship steady, laying down the platform for Tilak (51* in 22 balls, with three fours and four sixes) and Shivam Dube (27* in 15 balls, with a four and two sixes) to take India to 211/6, with the pair putting up a 62-run stand for the sixth wicket. During the chase, Pakistan was down at 39/3, but Hasan Nawaz (96 in 51 balls, with five fours and seven sixes) fought, with Pakistan restricted to 192/6. Axar Patel and Washington (2/29) delivered sensational spells, while Shivam Dube (2/33) also took two wickets. India finished fourth in the overall medal standings with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals. China dominated the Games with 341 medals, including 169 gold, while hosts Japan finished second with 269 medals, including 83 gold. South Korea were third with 150 medals, including 39 gold, according to Olympics.com. India's 85-medal haul was below the record 106 medals, including 28 gold, won at the Hangzhou Games in 2023, but the campaign featured several landmark achievements across disciplines. The biggest success came in the three team sports where India entered both men's and women's competitions -- cricket, kabaddi and hockey -- and returned with gold medals in all six events. In cricket, India completed a golden double after the women's team won the title before the men's side defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by 19 runs in the final. The men's team, powered by contributions from Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma and Axar Patel, added the gold to the women's team's emphatic 147-run victory over Sri Lanka in the women's final. Kabaddi produced another clean sweep. India's women defeated Iran 37-34 in a closely fought final to successfully defend their title, while the men's team came from behind to beat Iran 40-34. The men's gold was India's ninth in 10 editions since kabaddi became a men's team sport at the Asian Games in 1990. The only exception came in 2018, when India won bronze. The women's team, meanwhile, continued its dominance since the sport's introduction to the women's programme in 2010. Hockey completed India's clean sweep in the team sports. The women's team ended a 44-year wait for an Asian Games medal by defeating China 1-0 in the final, with Lalremsiami scoring the decisive goal in the 10th minute. The victory was India's first women's hockey gold at the Asian Games since 1982. The men's team followed with a 5-1 win over Malaysia in the final, successfully defending its Asian Games title. It was India's fifth men's hockey gold after victories in 1966, 1998, 2014 and 2022, and the first time the Indian men's and women's hockey teams won gold at the same edition. With these wins, India's men's and women's hockey teams qualified for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, booking their seats successfully. (ANI)
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