BCCI President Mithun Manhas on Saturday lauded the Indian men’s cricket team for retaining their Asian Games gold with a win over arch-rivals Pakistan, and said the Shreyas Iyer-led outfit handled a high-pressure final well. “By far the best team of the tournament. India defeated Pakistan by 19 runs in the final at Nisshin, Japan, emulating their women’s counterparts, who had also defended their gold medal last week.
We are the defending champions, and the performance they have shown this time is commendable,” Manhas told reporters here.
“Aquib Nabi, who comes from Baramulla, has reached here through a lot of hard work. When he played local cricket, the BCCI was running J&K cricket at the time. The BCCI has now given its full support to this association.
“They defeated arch-rivals Pakistan, who I feel don’t offer much competition anymore, and the way our team handled pressure situations… no other team in the world can do that,” he said. “Team India’s batting has been tremendous, and as for the bowling, I would say everyone contributed together to defend a good total,” he said. “This victory, I believe, should be dedicated to the crores of fans who pray for the Indian team, and especially to those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country,” he said. On cricket becoming an attraction at the Asian Games, Manhas said the sport is gaining global traction. “Different teams from around the world are participating, every country is getting involved in cricket, and it’s a very good thing that cricket is becoming global,” he said.
