“By far the best team”: BCCI President Mithun Manhas after India’s Asian Games gold

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], October 3 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Mithun Manhas on Saturday hailed the Indian males’s cricket staff for profitable the gold medal on the 2026 Asian Games after defeating arch-rivals Pakistan, praising the facet’s efficiency and talent to deal with high-pressure conditions.

Team India made historical past, delivering a double gold in cricket. After the ladies’s staff, the boys’s staff beat Pakistan within the gold medal conflict by 19 runs on the ongoing Asian Games on Saturday, on the again of heroic efforts from Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma and Axar Patel.

Speaking to reporters after India’s triumph, Manhas described the staff as one of the best facet of the match and mentioned its efficiency within the high-pressure last was significantly praiseworthy.

‘They are by far one of the best staff of the match; we now have gained this title 9 occasions earlier than and are the defending champions. The efficiency they’ve displayed this time is actually praiseworthy. They defeated arch-rivals Pakistan-though I really feel the competitors degree is not fairly what it used to be-and the way in which our staff handles high-pressure conditions is one thing no different staff within the nation can match. It is a day of nice pleasure, and the entire nation ought to rejoice. I’d additionally prefer to thank Jay Shah as soon as once more; he performed a major function in constructing this team-and not simply the boys’s staff; our ladies’s staff additionally gained the World Cup, and his contribution there was immense…’ Manhas mentioned.

India opted to bat first after profitable the toss. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s blitz of 15 in 9 balls, with two sixes, was a short-lived one, however Abhishek Sharma delivered an explosive fifty, scoring 61 in 28 balls, with three fours and 7 sixes. 

Ishan Kishan (20) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (21) saved the ship regular, laying down the platform for Tilak Verma (51* in 22 balls, with three fours and 4 sixes) and Shivam Dube (27* in 15 balls, with a 4 and two sixes) to take India to 211/6, with the pair placing up a 62-run stand for the sixth wicket. 

During the chase, Pakistan was down at 39/3, however Hasan Nawaz (96 in 51 balls, with 5 fours and 7 sixes) fought, with Pakistan restricted to 192/6. Axar Patel and Washington Sundar (2/29) delivered sensational spells, whereas Shivam Dube (2/33) additionally took two wickets. 

Following India’s Asian Games males’s cricket gold medal win, stand-in coach VVS Laxman expressed that it was particular to safe the back-to-back gold medal after the 2022 Hangzhou triumph and credited his gamers for his or her preparation and staying switched on regardless of the climate and restricted services. 

Speaking concerning the win to the media, Laxman mentioned, ‘It was fairly difficult for the reason that time we got here to Japan, you realize, rain adopted us in Tokyo (throughout the last towards Afghanistan) after which to the venue right here, however total, I believe the staff actually performed effectively, and really pleased with the outcome.’

Laxman mirrored that there have been barely any observe classes and preparations, due to restricted services and rain. He hailed his staff for getting one of the best out of the indoor classes in Tokyo.

‘We hardly had any observe classes, hardly had any preparation, and we additionally know that the observe services here-however restricted they were- however due to the climate, we weren’t in a position to entry the bottom,’ he mentioned. 

‘But mentally, I felt that everybody of them was actually switched on, and regardless that we have been indoors, whether or not within the resort or we went to a few indoor classes in Tokyo, everybody obtained one of the best out of the classes which they participated in. And I believe that’s what you anticipate on the highest degree: individually, can they put together to one of the best of their skills, no matter how difficult the situations could also be, in order that once they characterize the nation, they aren’t compromising on the depth,’ he added. (ANI)