India men's team rallies behind Harmanpreet and co. in 'nail-biter' CWG 2022 final; pic featuring Rohit, SKY goes viral
Indian women's cricket team scripted history as they clinched their maiden silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Australia held their nerve to beat India by nine runs in a Twenty20 thriller in front of a big Edgbaston crowd. Chasing 162 for the win, the Harmanpreet-led unit looked on course for gold when they were cruising at 118 for two at the 2022 Commonwealth Games cricket final. But the exit of Harmanpreet (65) and Jemimah Rodrigues (33) thwarted their momentum and they fell 10 runs short of the target, folding for 152 with three balls remaining in the 20-over contest.
The women's cricket team bagged a silver despite losing the final and earned plaudits for their impressive run in the tournament. The senior men's team, which was playing the Twenty20 game in West Indies, rallied its support behind Harmanpreet and co. In a picture shared by the BCCI, the men's team including regular captain Rohit Sharma can be seen watching the CWG 2022 final. "Senior Men's team is following #TeamIndia's progress in the #B2022 Final!" BCCI captioned the picture.
The women's side looked in firm control of the game before a batting collapse denied them yellow metal at the Games. The lower batting order was not able to keep up with the pressure and India bowled out for 152 in the final over, with Australians Gardner taking 3-16 and Megan Schutt 2-27.
Australians, who won the last two T20 World Cups in 2018 and 2020 and the 50-over World Cup earlier this year, added one more trophy to their cabinet.
Talking about the men's team, India cruised to an 88-run win on the back of a superb performance by their spinners in Florida. They scored 188-7 after choosing to bat first before skittling West Indies for 100 all out in 15.4 overs.
In absence of Rohit, Hardik Pandya led the Indian side to a 4-1 series win over the home team. Makeshift opener Shreyas Iyer top scored for India with a 40-ball 64 which included eight fours and two sixes. Deepak Hooda hit 38 off 25 while Pandya contributed with a 16-ball 28 cameo.
On the bowling front, Axar Patel had 3-15 in three overs and Kuldeep Yadav 3-12 in four. Young Ravi Bishnoi also shone in the final game of the T20 series, taking four wickets for 16 runs in 2.4 overs.
"The kind of talent the players we have and the freedom we're getting, this is the New India. I can see players playing with freedom and not worrying about failing. And when you do that, you tend to do special things," said Hardik in the post-match presentation.
"Preparation-wise we're ready for the World Cup but in this sport, you never stop learning. So it's about learning with each game."
