Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai hail India’s historic T20 WC victory

Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai hail India’s historic T20 WC victory New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Tech honchos Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, and others hailed India’s historic win over South Africa in a nerve-wrenching final of the ICC T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday. Alphabet and Google CEO Pichai posted on X: “What a game, could barely breathe, everything that makes sports incredible. Congrats India, so well deserved! SA was incredible. Amazing." Congratulating the Men in Blue, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Nadella said, "What a final. Congrats, India, and well played, South Africa. Super World Cup... let us have more cricket in the West Indies and USA." Meanwhile, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra asked ChatGPT to make a graphic image showing the Indian cricket team as Superheroes. “Because they were SuperCool till the end. The greatest gift of this final to India was that it didn’t come easy. It almost slipped out of their grasp. But they never lost the match in their minds,” he posted on X. “Reminding all of us that being a Superhero never comes without a fierce determination to win and a Never Give In attitude. Jai Ho!” Mahindra said. Earlier, Hardik Pandya’s 3-20 and Jasprit Bumrah’s 2-18 helped an unbeaten India to come back and clinch their second title in the shortest format with a seven-run win at the Kensington Oval. Talismanic batter Virat Kohli stepped up to end his lean run with a 59-ball 76 to help India post a competitive 176/7, the highest total in a Men’s T20 World Cup final. Kohli's 72-run stand for the fourth wicket with Axar Patel, who made 47 off 31 balls, and a 57-run partnership with Shivam Dube, who hit a 16-ball 27, helped India go past the 175-run mark, as they scored 42 runs off the last three overs. In reply, South Africa were very much in sight to chase down the total. But Hardik taking out Heinrich Klaasen propelled India to come back into the match and end a long 11-year global trophy drought as they restricted South Africa to 169/8. --IANS na/arm