Amidst a splash of colour and grandeur, the 2016 edition of the ICC World T20 was officially launched here in Mumbai. The event was attended by the who’s who of BCCI and the ICC who later expressed their desire and willingness to make the tournament a magnificent affair. Before the start of the event an Audio-Visual took the guests down memory lane highlighting the moments that defined the T20 World Cup of the years gone by.
Visuals of a long haired MS Dhoni leading a young brigade to a World Cup victory in its inaugural edition, the moments that made you skip a heartbeat when Misbah-ul-Haq scooped the ball in the air were all incorporated in a crisp capsule that left everyone with goose bumps at the end of it. India batsmen Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan who were also present later spoke about the iconic victory in a panel discussion emceed by Sanjay Manjrekar. Kohli reminisced the moment as if it had just happened yesterday.
“It wasn’t easy, there were nervous moments throughout the game, but it was a proud feeling to know that we had lifted a world trophy after so many years. To see our team win a Cup at the world stage was a very special memory. From there on the belief stuck with the team and we ended up achieving the 50-over world cup victory in 2011. It was a major milestone as far as Indian cricket is concerned.“It was virtually the launch of MS Dhoni the captain,” Kohli elaborated.
“The way he expressed his tactics on the field and led a very young team at a world stage, making them believe that this can be done was something that came through in that World Cup. From then on he became this big figure in terms of captaincy in world cricket. He was praised all over and became a figure of recognition world over.”
For India’s Test captain, observing MS Dhoni was a learning curve as far as leadership was concerned. “He set the bar in captaincy. All I can try and do is learn more about composure from his captaincy. His ability to not panic in pressure situations is something that I would like to learn and pick up from him. He is one of the finest captains to have ever captained any sporting team.”
Rahane and Dhawan meanwhile, expressed their love for the shortest format of the game and how T20s had helped develop their game in the other two formats. Both were excited about the tournament and looked eager to do well come March. “I am looking forward to the T20 World Cup at home,” Rahane said. “We play so many games here, we know the conditions, but it is a challenge for us as a team to do well in front of our crowd. We will give our best. I am sure we will do well.”
“Momentum will be key in the tournament. Whoever has momentum on their side will go ahead in the competition,” added Dhawan. Finally, talking about the 2014 edition of the tournament when India missed out on the title by a whisker, Kohli said, “As a team, we were sad that we couldn’t cross the line, though we played good cricket. We were very motivated last year, but unfortunately we couldn’t lift the cup. It was good to see Sri Lanka emerge as champions with two legends of the game finally getting that World Cup honour under their belt. This year, keeping things simple will be very important. We would like to cross the finishing line this time around,” signed off Kohli.
Five editions, five champions and the 2016 edition awaits its sixth as the tournament unfolds on 8th March.
