Picture Credit: Twitter/BCCI
What a night it was for the ‘second string’ Indian team in Colombo. They not only registered a win but gave out a statement. Like Australian head coach Justin Langer had said after the Test series loss, “Never, ever underestimate the Indians”. If India were dominant in the first ODI, they were gritty in the second. After being down to 193/7 with 83 required and the top order back in the dressing room, not many would have fancied India's chances to win the match from there. But they did. Such has been India's depth.
Obviously, the credit should not be taken away from the man who sits silently in the dressing room, watching his boys closely so that he can let them know when they walk up to him. Rahul David has been such a figure to the young generation cricketers. He knows everyone; their strengths, their weaknesses, their whole game. Everyone wants to know what Dravid has in him that these high-on-adrenaline young guns listen to him so sincerely. What does Dravid say to the boys after such performances? Well, the BCCI let us sneak in to hear Dravid's winning speech in the dressing room.
Dravid addresses players after the thrilling win
The BCCI uploaded a video in which the scenes from the Indian dressing room were shown. In one of those moments, Dravid was seen talking to the players, congratulating them on the win, and acknowledging everyone's contribution.
“When you look at the whole game, it was a complete team performance. So many performances right across, in our bowling, in our batting, even at the start and right at the end, it was a fantastic team performance,” said Dravid. “We said that they were going to respond, we knew and we have to respect the opposition, they are also an international team. They responded and we responded back, like a champion team. With our backs to the wall, we found a way to win. A very well done to all of you,” Dravid signed off.
Watch the video here:
India defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets in the second ODI. Deepak Chahar starred with his all-round performance. He took two wickets and made a gutsy 69* with the bat and was adjudged Man of the Match for the same.