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Team India players and support staff members got together and celebrated Diwali joyfully on Saturday (November 11) in Bangalore. They celebrated the festival a day ahead as they will be playing against the Netherlands team in the final league match of the 2023 World Cup on Sunday.
The Men in Blue have coasted to the semi-finals of the tournament by topping the points table yet again. They will once again face New Zealand in the semi-final, who defeated them in the last-four stage of the 2019 World Cup. Before the all-important game, team India will be eager to end the league phase unbeaten by winning against the Netherlands today.
BCCI took to their official Instagram handle to give everyone a glimpse of the Diwali celebrations of cricketers at the team hotel by sharing a video. In it, the players can be seen participating in the festivities along with their family members and having a great time.
You can watch the video below:
"He's someone who’s certainly got the respect of the group and the coaching staff"- Rahul Dravid on Team India captain Rohit Sharma
At a press conference on the eve of the match between India and the Netherlands, Rahul Dravid heaped praise on Rohit Sharma's leadership skills.
He pointed out that Rohit's proactive batting approach in the powerplay has ensured that the Indian team avoided tricky situations and coasted home without any turbulences on multiple occasions in the tournament. Dravid said:
"Rohit has certainly been a leader. I think he's led by example both on and off the field. There have been some games where it could have been tricky for us, but the fact that he's been able to get us to those kinds of starts has literally cracked open the game."
He continued:
"We've talked about playing in a particular way. You cannot do that unless your leader buys in and shows by example. It's been terrific to see the way Rohit's done that. I think his captaincy has been fantastic. He's someone who’s certainly got the respect of the group and the coaching staff."
Rohit Sharma has been in scintillating form in the 2023 World Cup with the bat, providing brisk starts to his team. He has scored 442 runs across 8 games at an average of 55.25 and a strike rate of 122.78.
