Incredible feeling to end up as champions, hope we’ve managed to create awareness, expresses Sachin Tendulkar
India Legends skipper Sachin Tendulkar expressed delight over his side finishing the Road Safety World Series as champions and hoped that the tournament achieved the goal of creating Road Safety awareness amongst the masses. On Sunday, India Legends beat Sri Lanka legends to lift the title.
The inaugural Road Safety World Series came to its conclusion on Sunday, March 21, as India Legends, led by Sachin Tendulkar, triumphed over Sri Lanka Legends to become the first-ever champions of the competition. The tournament, which begun in 2020, before the pandemic, reached a fever-pitch on Sunday as the two best sides in the competition went toe-to-toe, but it was ultimately the home side that triumphed as, thanks to cameos from the recently-retired all-rounders Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan, India Legends pocketed the game to end up as champions.
Speaking in the aftermath of the win, India Legends skipper Sachin Tendulkar expressed delight over his side getting their hands on the ultimate prize and hoped that, most importantly, he and the other players managed to create Road Safety awareness amongst the masses, something that was the ultimate goal of the competition.
“Incredible. This is what we have been here for, to win this trophy. This wouldn't have been possible without the crowd support. In the last couple of overs we had to call the support staff to field and we have all been strapped really,” Sachin said post the victory, reported Cricbuzz.
“This tournament is really important and I hope, as six teams, we have been able to spread the message across about road safety. I would like to applaud all the teams for coming in supporting us, this is one message all of us are trying to spread all around the world. Really pleased.”
Victory in the final meant that the champions, India, remarkably won 7 of their 8 matches in the competition, and the triumph in the final was enabled by a stunning cameo from Yusuf Pathan, who bludgeoned an unbeaten 62 off just 36 balls. Yusuf, who’d also struck an unbeaten 37 in the semis, pummeled 4 fours and 5 sixes en-route the 62 and demoralized the Lankans in the first innings, before claiming 2/26 with the ball to help India seal the victory. The 38-year-old, who was named Man of the Match for his efforts, expressed that he enjoyed every moment in the tournament.
“Feels very good to play. This is my first series after retirement and really happy with the win. Last three games we played really good cricket, he's (Yuvraj) been hitting them really well. Really enjoyed playing with my brother as well. Really enjoyed every moment of this tournament,” Yusuf said.
Sri Lanka were unlucky to end on the losing side but the tournament ended up being an unforgettable one for their skipper Tilakaratne Dilshan, who was named Man of the Series for his all-round showing - 271 runs with the bat and 12 wickets with the ball. Dilshan, despite ending up on the losing side, expressed that he and his side enjoyed the tournament, and congratulated India for ending up as the inaugural champions.
“Congratulations to the India Legends on the win. We bowled well in the initial overs but we dropped important catches and Yusuf took the game away from us. Happy with the boys who have played well throughout the tournament. Sanath batted really well. The Indian team bowled and fielded well. It was a good tournament, we all enjoyed it. We had some great crowd and great facilities,” Dilshan said.