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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appreciated the Indian men's cricket team for their runners-up finish in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at home, saying that the team won hearts of everyone with their performance.
Adressing the nation on the final episode of his programme 'Mann Ki Baat' for this year, PM Modi said, "Indian players won everyone's heart with their performance in the Cricket World Cup. The victory of our women's cricket team in the Under-19 T-20 World Cup is very inspiring. The achievements of players in many other sports added to the glory of the country." Team India had a dream run in the home World Cup, in which they won ten matches in a row before losing to Australia in the final. Despite the loss, Men in Blue ticked many checkboxes as they responded to pressure situations really well this time for most of the tournament. The pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah (20 wickets in 11 matches) and Mohammed Shami (24 wickets in seven matches, highest-wicket-taker) was unplayable while spinners Ravindra Jadeja (16 wickets in 11 matches) and Kuldeep Yadav (15 wickets in 11 matches) also complemented the pace attack well with crucial breakthroughs and assists. The Indian batting was extremely strong, with skipper Rohit Sharma (597 runs in 11 matches) and Virat Kohli (765 runs in 11 matches) leading from the front with record-breaking performances. While Rohit became the player with the most World Cup centuries ever (seven), going past Sachin Tendulkar, Virat also surpassed the Indian icon to become the first player to register 50 ODI centuries and score the most amount of runs in a single edition of the tournament. Both players also performed well in knockout matches, helping India break the losing streak to New Zealand that had been troubling them since 2003. Also, the performances of Shreyas Iyer (530 runs in 11 matches) and KL Rahul (452 runs in 11 matches) gave India an extremely strong middle-order. Shreyas hit the fastest World Cup knockout stage century ever in 67 balls against the Kiwis while KL slammed India's fastest-ever World Cup hundred in just 62 balls against the Netherlands. The Indian team also reached the final of the ICC World Test Championship, but lost to Australia by 209 runs in London this year. Though India's wait for the ICC trophy continues, they did win their eighth Asia Cup title just before the World Cup, beating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets. Also in the Women's U19 T20 World Cup final back in January, India beat England by seven wickets in a low-scoring match. Shweta Sehrawat (297 runs in seven matches), Shafali Varma (172 runs in seven matches), Parshavi Chopra (11 wickets in six matches), Mannat Kashyap (Nine wickets in six matches) and Titas Sadhu (Six wickets in six matches) were among some of the biggest stars of the tournament. Modi also recalled India's achievement in sports throughout this year and lavished praise on athletes who participated in the Asian Games and Asian Para Games, encouraging athletes to do well in the 2024 Paris Olympics. India got 111 medals at the ongoing Asian Para Games. The country's previous best was 72 medals in the 2018 event in Indonesia. Notably, India finished their Asian Games campaign at Hangzhou in China with a record haul of 107 medals - 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze. In his final 'Mann Ki Baat' address of 2023, Prime Minister Modi said the 2023 is auspicious for sports in the country as the athletes, through their rousing and historic performances in the Hangzhou Games, has set the tone for more sporting achievements. As the year 2023 comes to a close, PM Modi showered accolades on India's sportspersons and complimented the 'outstanding' Indian athletes for their efforts at the Asian Games and Asian Para Games in his last 'Mann Ki Baat' address on Sunday. "This year our athletes also performed marvellously in sports. Our players won 107 medals in the Asian Games and 111 medals in the Asian Para Games. The achievements of players in many other sports added to the glory of the country," the Prime Minister said. PM Modi also stated that the whole nation is now encouraging its athletes to compete in the highly anticipated Paris Olympics in 2024. "Now Paris Olympics will be held in 2024, for which the whole country is encouraging her players," he added. (ANI)
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