Acknowledging the hard work put in by his team of support staff, India head coach Rahul Dravid termed them as “exceptionally hard-working professionals”, and appreciated their efforts to create a fantastic team environment that resulted in India winning the ICC men’s T20 World Cup trophy in Barbados on Saturday.

Interestingly, the support staff that includes Dravid along with bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and batting coach Vikram Rathour had made their Team India debut around the same time in 1996.

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While Dravid went on to play 161 Tests, 344 ODIs and a solitary T20I for India in a career spanning almost 16 years, Mhambrey and Rathour featured in a handful of Tests and ODIs but have been hugely successful in their roles as coaches.

Moments after India’s title win on Saturday, the trio’s former India teammate and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar appreciated the effort of the support staff in a long post where he recollected the low of the 2007 World Cup campaign to becoming a cricketing powerhouse and winning the T20WC in 2024.

“Every star added to the Team India jersey inspires our nation’s starry-eyed children to move one step closer to their dreams. India gets the 4th star, our second in the T20 World Cup,” the batting maestro wrote.

“Life comes full circle for Indian cricket in the West Indies. From our lows in the 2007 ODI World Cup to becoming a cricketing powerhouse and winning the T20WC in 2024. Very happy for my friend Rahul Dravid, who missed out on the 2011 World Cup win but his contribution to this T20 World Cup victory has been immense. I am so so happy for him.

“Along with Rahul, Paras Mhambrey and Vikram Rathour also made their international debuts in 1996. It was wonderful to see Team India excel under the guidance of this class of ’96. A total team effort. Hearty congratulations to all the players, coaches, support staff, and BCCI,” Tendulkar further stated.

The Bharat Ratna awardee cricketer was also effusive in his praise for the players, especially the ones in the leadership group, including skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah.

“What can one say about @ImRo45 (Rohit Sharma)? Superb captaincy! To put the 2023 ODI World Cup loss behind and to keep all our players motivated towards the T20 World Cup is commendable. @Jaspritbumrah93‘s Player of the Tournament award as well as @imVkohli‘s Player of the Match award are both well-deserved. They were just superb when it mattered,” he wrote.

Dravid also spoke highly of the support staff after the final, and credited them for creating the environment in the dressing room from which the team benefited immensely during their campaign.

“I just feel glad that we gave it the best we could and it’s not just me. I think I’d like to really acknowledge the support staff that I’ve worked with. I think I’ve been lucky to have been working with exceptionally hard-working professionals, an intelligent bunch of coaches, and other support staff who have made it possible for us to create a fantastic environment, led by Rohit. I am glad that with a bit of luck, it resulted in this trophy,” he said.

Dravid also opened up on his relationship with Rohit, saying, “I will miss him as a person. Forget the cricket and captaincy and everything, but what really has impressed me is the kind of person he is, the kind of respect he has shown towards me, the kind of care and commitment he has had for the team, the kind of energy he has had to spend, and he’s never backed down from it.”

“So for me, it’s the person that I will remember the most. He’ll be a great captain, he’ll be a great player and he will score runs and win trophies, but I think it’s who he is as a person that I will be most fond of,” he signed off.

On his part, Rohit had dedicated the T20 World Cup triumph to Dravid – with gratitude for his contribution to the sport.

“What he has done for Indian cricket for the past 20, 25 years, this was the only thing left. I am very happy on behalf of the entire team that we could do this for him,” Rohit said.