Courtesy: BCCI
Following India’s convincing win by 44 runs over New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Group A clash, the fielding award, which is synonymous with the national team, got presented to the deserving winner, but not before a commotion in the dressing room. After Virat Kohli was declared the winner, the fielding medal went missing inside the dressing room, and after the Indian players and support staff looked for it, Axar Patel revealed that he had hidden it, to the laughter of his teammates.
Notably, Axar Patel had won the fielding award after India had defeated Pakistan two Sundays ago before former teammate Shikhar Dhawan presented it to him. But, after losing it to Virat Kohli, who was exceptional in the field for the Indian cricket team against New Zealand last night, Axar Patel decided to hide the fielding medal behind the sofa he was sitting on in a hilarious but short and sweet prank, showcasing the great camaraderie in the team, with one of them remarking, “Medal hi gayab ho gaya”.
Following that, T Dilip, India’s fielding coach, invited the training assistant Udenaka Nuwan Seneviratne, who hails from Sri Lanka, to present the fielding award to a happy and chuffed Virat Kohli. Before the presentation of the award, T Dilip alluded to the impressive work in the field from the Indian players against New Zealand, especially in the inner ring, which didn’t allow the Kiwi batters to get away from them in the run chase.
Watch the video here:
For me, the most important for that is being proactive: T Dilip
The Indian fielding coach said, “We always speak about gun fielding unit. For me, the most important for that is being proactive. Different phases of the game we squeezed in and especially when Mitchell came in – he couldn’t rotate the strike. They way the bullet throws came in from the outfield and the infield really squeezed them up.” Moreover, at the same time, it is important to note that KL Rahul didn’t manage to hold onto to a few half chances behind the stumps, which could be a real issue in the knockout stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
India are slated to take on Australia in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy on Tuesday, March 4, at the Dubai International Stadium.
