India spinner Kuldeep Yadav believes that the stalwart trio of Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli’s decision to retire from the T20I format is “personal,” and their absence will open a window of opportunity for the youngsters. The T20 World Cup final carried a mixed bag of emotions for the Indian fans. While there were tears of joy as India ended their ICC World Cup drought that lasted for 13 years, there were tears of sorrow as well with the three star players bidding adieu to the shortest format of cricket.
While announcing his retirement, Kohli said that it was time for him to pass the baton on to the younger generation.
Sharing similar views about giving an opportunity to the younger generation, Kuldeep told ANI, “It is their personal decision. They have achieved a lot for India. I hope that youngsters will get good opportunities. They announced their retirement after winning the T20 World Cup and there is no better achievement than that.”
India were stuck in a peculiar situation when the required run rate came down to six. South Africa needed 30 runs in the final five overs to walk away with the trophy.
However, the pace trio of Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya made the opposition batters sweat hard for each run.
Their efforts helped India end their 13-year-long T20 World Cup drought with a 7-run win in Barbados.
“It was a good approach. We were desperate to win the World Cup. We achieved what we wanted to,” Kuldeep added.
Recently, there have been rumours around Kuldeep’s marriage. The ‘Chinaman’ spinner remained tight-lipped about his future partner and said, “There is still time in that and hopefully you will get to know about it.”
On Thursday morning, the T20 World Cup-winning Indian team touched down in the national capital, Delhi, to a rousing welcome from fans eagerly waiting for a glimpse of their favourite heroes and the trophy.
Following their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the players had an open bus victory parade in Mumbai, from Marine Drive to the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
The champion team was also felicitated with the prize money of Rs 125 crore by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office-bearers.
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