Euphoria. Madness. Pride. 

Champions for the third time, Team India have conquered Ahmedabad and the 8th of March has successfully erased the scars of 19th November. On the sidelines of bringing home the trophy and becoming the first ever side in the world to successfully defend their crown, here are some of the Men in Blue sharing some raw emotions.. 

Hardik Pandya: I think in that (2024 WC final) scene there was a lot of difficulty, a lot of things had happened, so this was more about taking redemption, making my fifth comeback. This victory is always what I live for. I have played cricket for this, I want to win trophies, I want to win as many trophies as possible for India. After Barbados I had said that whichever trophy I play for, I will win. I didn’t say that just to say it, I believe it, and this is just a validation that what I believed has converted into reality. It is manifestation, but I think there is a lot of hard work behind it, it is not just that, a lot of hard-work goes into it. The big thing is everyone works hard, but for me whatever results have come in life, I only know hard work. Every time I just work hard, work hard, be a good human being. And because of that many people actually support me. I would like to thank my own team, Mohit, Kartik, my physio, my security Siddhant, my nutritionist Nikhil, my trainers Sagar, my chef Vijay. I think they have been fantastic.

The Hardik Pandya you see is because these people take so much care behind the scenes. And since Mahieka has come into my life, it has only been about winning, only about how Hardik Pandya can move forward. So special mention to Mahieka, to my whole team. I think without them I would not be here. This would not have been possible. No matter how hard you work, but because of their support, because of my wife’s support, that is why we are here and I am very happy. I think it sounds very good that I am a senior player now. But I still have ten years left, so half of my career is finished and half is still remaining. I want to win at least ten trophies, ICC and IPL combined, but for me ICC trophies are the most important trophies. I have got three and I would want to win anything which I play for. So I think in the next ten years at least five or six will come, so yeah, that’s my goal.

Yes, it is a very emotional thing for me because winning a World Cup in India, the excitement of the people is a very big thing. It feels like we won the match easily now, but the hard work this team has put in, from yesterday I knew we are champions. I think that 19th over (in the semi-final vs England) was as important as what I bowled in the 2024 World Cup because I loved it. Plus when I walked back after bowling the last ball, it was fun. I mean this is what life teaches you. When you work hard, when you stay as humans, when you find happiness in other people’s happiness, the divine always gives you a chance. I think this is a learning for the whole nation that no matter what happens in life, if you keep working hard and stay quiet, the divine will take care… I am so proud of both (Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan) of them. They came, they worked very hard, they kept quiet and God has given them the benefit of what they have got now. So I am really proud of them.

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Tilak Varma: To be honest, we have prepared a lot. One and a half years we are playing in all the positions and we were prepared for batting at any position for the team. That's what we have decided. What the team needs we are up for it and we have already practiced and we are in a right mindset for batting in any position. (On the team's fielding getting better) I would not say, whenever the team needed, the boys always stood up in the fielding (dept). Especially when you see in the semifinal game against England, the way Axar took the catches and the way we have fielded. And today also, I would not say it was the best fielding (effort), but still we have taken some good catches. In the end, me and Ishan fielded well today. So yeah, end of the day, we are happy that we won the final. (What plan for the next two weeks before the IPL?) Absolutely, next couple of days will be a big party with the boys. We have decided after the final we're going to do a big party and we'll take a couple of days of rest and we'll be back again in the IPL.

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Jasprit Bumrah | Player of the Match: It feels extremely special because I’ve played one final at my home venue and you know, couldn’t win that one, but this one feels really special. I was really motivated. I was really clear. I knew what I wanted to do. The wicket was a flat one, so I played all my cricket here, so I used all my experience. Today was a wonderful day where all the execution went as per plan. So, yeah, really happy, really grateful. God is really kind. So, before this tournament, I was in that zone where I felt I was trying too hard because I was bowling really well, but somewhere or the other way, I was feeling that maybe I’m trying too hard. But in this format, I let the game come to me. I was clear. I used to prepare and then read the situation and believe in myself. That is what I tried to do in this tournament. It worked really well for me. So, yeah, my individual assessment of my game has always been my strength. So, yeah, couldn’t be really happy. I couldn’t be special than this to win Man of the Match here, World Cup finals, started my cricket here. Doesn’t get better than this.

That I was not aware of (on recording his career best figures today), but really happy to close off on the win. Because of the experience, because I’ve played on belters over here, I have also seen the other team, how they were bowling. I have learnt over here when you are trying to bowl too fast, it gets easier. Shot making gets easier. Sometimes the ball skips on. So, keep being smart, keep changing your pace, you know, and expecting what the batsman is trying to do. So, all of these things really help you and clarity while execution also helps. Oh, it (word about the rest of the bowling group) was really wonderful. Everybody is very clear. Whenever we’ve discussed, they always come up with their options. And whenever there’s some communication that is to be needed, we always did that. We kept calm. We were never panicking, even if sometimes in the tournament, the games got close like the last one, we never panicked.

We always felt that we keep our head above the water and try to hold our nerve. Teams that do that win the tournament and we are very happy that we did it. It’s really, really special. The crowd was really brilliant. They were behind us. They supported us throughout. And yeah, really, really happy and really thankful for all the support.

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Shivam Dube: (On his role) It was always there to hit some big sixes. That was my role since the first day of this tournament. And yeah, sometimes it happens. Some other batsmen are there when they go up. But yes, I always back myself and think that whenever I get the opportunity, I will hit some sixes. (On his bowling) I've developed a lot, but yeah, I have not bowled this tournament. But yes, I'm going to come better next time. (Celebrating long into the week?) Definitely, it's one of the biggest days today and the crowd was amazing. This tournament belongs to the supporters of Indian cricket team. The prayers and I think we have got that love which supported us a lot in the bad situations. I think all credit goes to all the Indian cricket team supporters.

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Abhishek Sharma: I mean, of course, (Was there ever a feeling, why is this happening to me? - Talking about the string of low scores) but the one thing was very clear. I wanted to share before as well, but today was the best day to tell about this thing that the coach and the captain, they had the faith in me. And, even I was doubting myself because it was not an easy tournament for me. I’ve never experienced this before, but still playing the first World Cup. Everyone was so, so much into me that you’re going to win one game, one big game, one big game. So I was just doing my process, but it wasn’t that easy as a young player or probably you’ve just been one or two years in the Indian team and then going through this phase. But I think I just love this team, the way they treated me in those days. It was, I’ve never felt it before. I mean, I’ve told you before as well (how does it feel now to be standing up on something that must have been a dream for you), it wasn’t that easy for me because, you know, going through the whole year, you’ve been doing well for the team and especially on the big occasion.

I wasn’t able to do well, but the faith and the confidence, I think players and support staff and coaches showed on me. I think I got emotional in between the tournament as well because if you see that I wanted to do really well for in all the games probably, but I couldn’t. But then I was like, I wanted to talk to coach or captain. They always wanted to come to me and just say one thing, you are, you’re gonna win us the big games. And I just wanted to wait for that day and you can’t ask for the better day for this.