Indian batsman Suryakumar Yadav has expressed gratitude towards ‘Men in Blue’ supporters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his inspirational remarks to the players following the team’s devastating loss to Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final. He recounted the latter’s visit to the Team India dressing room after the big loss in the final encounter of the championship.
#WATCH | Indian cricketer Surya Kumar Yadav says "As you all know, it has been 4-5 days since the World Cup finished. We are all disappointed. It felt really good seeing the support of our fans in India and across the world. I would like to say that this is a sport and it teaches… pic.twitter.com/m7KoaPilpP
— ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2023
Suryakumar Yadav mentioned, “As you all know, it has been 4-5 days since the World Cup finished. We are all disappointed. It felt really good seeing the support of our fans in India and across the world. I would like to say that at the end of the day, this is a sport and it teaches us a lot including how to move forward. I would just like to request you to keep backing us.”
He added, “As you all witnessed after the loss, we were in the dressing room and our country’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji came there and met everyone and gave us motivation. He said that it’s a sport and winning and losing is a part of it, ups and downs do come. He asked us to take it in our stride. It will surely take some time to get over the defeat but his inspirational words for 5-6 minutes meant a lot. As a country’s leader, coming to the dressing room to motivate a sports team was a big thing for us. We heard him really well and spent time with him. We will try to follow his suggestions.”
The 33-year-old from Mumbai assured, “We will try to put a better performance in upcoming tournaments. Next year, there is going to be another ICC (Indian Cricket Council) event. We will play with all of our passion just like we did this year and hopefully emerge victorious.” The 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is going to be organised in the West Indies and the United States from 4 June to 30 June next year.
The side captained by Pat Cummins crushed the host country by six wickets on 19 November in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium and shattered a million hopes. The players were devastated and found it difficult to accept the setback. However, in a heartfelt gesture PM Modi visited the Indian dressing room to encourage and console them.
He met with all the players and conveyed, “It keeps happening, you have won 10 continuous matches. It keeps happening. Smile, the whole country is watching you,” while holding hands with captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Cricketers like Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja thanked him for the kind action.
#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Team India in their dressing room after the ICC World Cup Finals at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 19th November.
— ANI (@ANI) November 21, 2023
The PM spoke to the players and encouraged them for their performance throughout the tournament.
(Video:… pic.twitter.com/ZqYIakoIIj
Suryakumar Yadav often referred to as Mr. 360 because he hit sixes in all directions of the ground is currently leading the Indian side in the five-match T20 series against Australia. The first match was played on 24 November and the former won by two wickets. The following game is slated to take place on 26 November.
