Legendary India batsman Sachin Tendulkar had his dream of winning the World Cup fulfilled in 2011, 22 years after making his international debut.
However, India has not won a World Cup – ODI or T20 – since. MS Dhoni captained a young Indian team to the ICC Champions Trophy title in 2013. But since then, the senior Men In Blue have failed to get their hands on any coveted ICC trophy.
India lost the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup, and the semi-final of the 2016 edition. A year, they were beaten by Pakistan in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy and went down to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. They had a poor T20 World Cup last year, where they failed to make into the semi-final.
In the Test arena as well, India lost the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship last year.
Sachin Tendulkar pointed out that soon in three months’ time, it will be 11 years since MS Dhoni hit that famous six in the Wankhede Stadium. He said that a World Cup win in any format is the biggest achievement for any cricketer.
Speaking with journalist Boria Majumdar on his YouTube show ‘Backstage with Boria‘, Tendulkar said, “In the month of April this year, we’ll complete 11 years of World Cup win. That’s a long wait. Everyone including me would love to see that trophy in BCCI’s cabinet. This is one trophy that all the cricketers play for. It doesn’t get any bigger than that… be it a shorter or longer format. World Cup is something special and that’s what I feel.”
Indian cricket has entered a new era of captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid. Sharma will lead India in the 2022 T20 World Cup, his first ICC tournament as India’s captain. Tendulkar is certain that Sharma and Dravid will give their best on and off the field to bring the glory back to India.
“Rohit [Sharma] & Rahul [Dravid] is a fantastic pair. I know that guys would give their best shot and prepare to the best of their ability. You have so many people backing you. It’s all about having that support at the right time.
“Of course, everyone has played enough cricket. Rahul has played enough cricket to understand there are gonna be ups and downs along the way. Not to lose hope is the only thing. Keep trying and we will keep moving forward,” the Master Blaster added.
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