Unstoppable India target Olympic gold after making World Cup history

Ahmedabad, Mar. 10: Captain Suryakumar Yadav said gold in 2028 on cricket's return to the Olympics was India's next big aim after extending their T20 domination with back-to-back World Cup titles.

Co-hosts India hammered New Zealand by 96 runs in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday to be the first team to retain the T20 world crown and first to win it three times.

It was also the first time a team have won the title on home soil, and they did it with a brand of fearless, attacking cricket.

"It has been very special," Suryakumar told reporters at a celebratory midnight press conference, as fans across the country flooded into the streets.

"And definitely the next goal is Olympics, Olympic gold and also the T20 World Cup that year."

Los Angeles 2028 will see cricket return to the Olympics for the first time since 1900.

Led by then captain Rohit Sharma, India won the T20 World Cup two years ago in Barbados for their first major title since the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Rohit and fellow stalwart Virat Kohli retired from the shortest format after the final against South Africa and Suryakumar took over as captain.

"I think that drought ended in 2024 after a really long time and from there we never looked back," said the 35-year-old.

"We played a different brand of cricket in 2024 and from there we understood how this team needs to work (going) forward.

"And it's been a wonderful journey since then."

Suryakumar added: "We wanted to do something special in front of the home crowd. We want to continue doing that... and never stop."

India won the 50-over World Cup in 2011 at home under M.S. Dhoni, who led the team to a T20 World Cup in the inaugural edition in 2007.

After that was a comparative drought in the biggest events by India's sky-high standards.

Two-time World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir, who succeeded Rahul Dravid as coach after the 2024 World Cup win, wants to carve out his own legacy.

"I don't believe in inheriting anything, I believe in creating something," said Gambhir, who has not always been universally popular with fans and pundits as the coach.

"And hopefully we've created something which probably all of you guys could be proud of, that the kind of brand of cricket we've played."

India celebrate 

Millions of euphoric Indians celebrated on Monday what cricket great Virat Kohli hailed as a "phenomenal" display in winning the T20 World Cup for a record third time.

Indian newspapers praised Suryakumar Yadav's men for their dominant performance, with the mass-circulation Times of India saying they had rewritten history in "bold strokes".

"India didn't so much win the title as stroll to it. It was a coronation rather than a final," it said in a front-page report headlined, "Threemendous: T20 kings keep the crown."

The English-language Indian Express said it was the first time India had won a showpiece event without a "larger-than-life megastar".

It credited coach Gautam Gambhir with "sowing the seeds" of belief in the team, calling him the "architect" of India's triumph.

As the victory became inevitable late Sunday, thousands of delirious fans converged on Delhi's India Gate monument waving tricolour flags, beating drums and dancing to blaring Bollywood hits.

Drivers came out of their cars on the broad avenues around the monument to join impromptu street celebrations that stretched long into the next day.

The scene was replicated in cities, towns and villages across the country.

Batting great Sachin Tendulkar hailed the Indian team as "totally deserving and rightful winners".

The 50-year-old shared a photo of fans gathered outside his Mumbai residence long after midnight, writing: "Not in Mumbai to witness the celebration... but it's happening all over the country."

Thousands of fans also celebrated outside the Ahmedabad stadium, where India suffered heartbreak in the 2023 50 over World Cup final.

"India has now won back-to-back. So we hope in the next World Cup we will win as well," Akshay, a 35-year-old engineer, told AFP.

Indian batting superstar Kohli, who retired from the shortest format of the game after India's 2024 title win, called the performance "phenomenal". "Absolutely no match for the explosive cricket played by us throughout the tournament," he wrote on X.(AFP)