Unstoppable India target Olympic cricket gold after making World Cup history

Ahmedabad – Captain Suryakumar Yadav said gold in 2028 on cricket’s return to the Olympics is India’s next big aim after extending their T20 domination with back-to-back World Cup titles.

Co-hosts India hammered New Zealand by 96 runs in the final in Ahmedabad on March 8 to be the first team to retain the T20 world crown and first to win it three times.

Sanju Samson’s blistering 89 off 46 balls guided India to 255-5 and the co-hosts then bowled out New Zealand for 159 in front of over 86,000 fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

It was also the first time a team have won the title on home soil and they did it with a brand of fearless, attacking cricket.

“It has been very special,” Yadav told reporters at a celebratory midnight press conference, as fans across the country flooded into the streets.

“And definitely the next goal is Olympics, Olympic gold and also the T20 World Cup that year.”

Los Angeles 2028 will see cricket return to the Olympics

for the first time since 1900.

Led by then captain Rohit Sharma, India won the T20 World Cup in 2024 in Barbados for their first major title since the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Rohit and fellow stalwart Virat Kohli retired from the shortest format after the final against South Africa and Yadav took over as captain.

“I think that drought ended in 2024 after a really long time and from there we never looked back,” said Yadav.

“We played a different brand of cricket in 2024 and from there we understood how this team needs to work (going) forward.

“And it’s been a wonderful journey since then.”

The 35-year-old added: “We wanted to do something special in front of the home crowd. We want to continue doing that... and never stop.”

India won the 50-over World Cup in 2011 at home under M.S. Dhoni, who led the team to a T20 World Cup in the inaugural edition in 2007.

After that was a comparative drought in the biggest events by India’s sky-high standards.

Two-time World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir, who succeeded Rahul Dravid as coach after the 2024 World Cup win, wants to carve out his own legacy.

“I don’t believe in inheriting anything, I believe in creating something,” said the 44-year-old Gambhir, who has not always been universally popular with fans and pundits as the coach.

“And hopefully we’ve created something which probably all of you guys could be proud of, that the kind of brand of cricket we’ve played.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said the team should be “proud” of their efforts, despite the crushing defeat.

“To make it to a final is obviously a pretty good effort from the boys,” he told reporters.

“And, you know, they should be very proud of their efforts throughout this tournament.”

New Zealand came in as underdogs after a hot and cold tournament where they lost to England and South Africa and squeezed into the semi-finals on net run-rate.

They hammered South Africa in the semi-finals but lost their second T20 World Cup final after they went down to Australia in 2021.

“I guess it’s not ideal, losing finals but, you know, like I said the other day, you get to this situation, you’re coming up against teams that are also playing very good cricket,” said Santner.

“They showed their class again tonight, you know, with their batting performance, and then everything kind of has to go well when you’re chasing 250 and losing wickets to the power players, it’s always a challenge.”

Sky Sports pundit and former England cricketer Michael Atherton said India were worthy champions.

“India are more than a pre-eminent T20 side. They are the pre-eminent white-ball side at the moment,” he said.

“In the last few ICC (International Cricket Council) global events before today, they have won 30 out of 32 games. They are the strongest side in white-ball cricket.” AFP, REUTERS