Mission accomplished! That was the message from Bridgetown, Barbados, after the Men in the Blue ensured the country rose to become the T20 world champion once again. It was back in 2007, in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, that India tasted a title win. The long wait thereafter, and in between some success and losses in various other ICC events notwithstanding, came this big moment that every Indian fan had been waiting for, perhaps impatiently. Loyal fans had expected such a historic happening in India last November when India reached the summit round of the ODI World Cup held at home, but Australia dashed that dream to leave a sea of fans at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, not to mention the millions of others the world over, shocked to silence! The latest success came as a much-wanted balm to erase that pain and trigger the kind of ecstasy that would be the envy of all other sporting practitioners and followers in the country!

Once the mission was accomplished, came the next step, that of the protagonists laying down their weapons, so to speak! It seemed just that, with skipper Rohit Sharma and iconic player Virat Kohli announcing that they had played their last T20 game for the country. Not much later, all-rounder Ajay Jadeja, another member of the victorious pack, also decided to end his career in this short version. Indeed, what better than leaving........

© Mathrubhumi English