New Delhi: One of the three pillars of Indian cricket who opted out of the Twenty20 World Championship—Sachin Tendulkar—spoke exclusively to CNN-IBN from Mumbai about the win.
“I thought it was just spectacular. We are all celebrating here. We have opened a few bottles of champagne and sprayed it all over the house. It’s a wonderful moment I celebrated with my friends here,” Tendulkar said after India beat Pakistan by five runs to be crowned the first ever Twenty20 World Champions.
The master blaster was quick to shower praise on India captian Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who will also be leading the Indian team when Australia come touring for seven One-Dayers.
“The entire team played terrific and Dhoni did a fantastic job. It’s all about playing together, it really doesn’t matter who the captain is or who the coach is, but if the team is together, you can play some good cricket,” he said.
The highest run-getter in One-Day Internationals, Tendulkar said that it wouldn’t have been possible without team effort. “What I saw here was a total team effort and good individual performances backed by other players. The whole team played brilliant cricket and I’m proud of all of them.”
Tendulkar also added that star batsman Yuvraj Singh’s performance in the tournament was just around the corner. “I have always felt that Yuvraj Singh was a special player and every now and then he goes out there and he proves that. I spoke to him after that innings (against Australia) and it was a special treat. How many times do you see six sixes being hit in an over? He is a fantastic player.”
Tendulkar, however, said that though he wasn’t part of the victorious team, he was always a part of them. “I am very much with the team, it doesn’t really matter whether I’m sitting here in India but I’m always with them and it’s a fantastic achievement. All credit to the entire team, without whom it wouldn’t have been possible.”
“You are world champions when all the eleven players in the team are performing. I’m extremely happy and proud as an Indian that the team has been able to achieve this. It will be talked for years to come,” Tendulkar added.
“According to me, the turning point was when a catch was missed and it went for six and five runs came when it really mattered. Our guys were strong enough to pull it through,”