They're taking Indian cricket forward in right direction – Virat Kohli on India’s youngsters

It was a new dawn for Team India as a perfect blend of youth and experience saw them lifting the ICC Champions Trophy for a record third time. Shreyas Iyer carved an impactful role in the middle-order while KL Rahul reasserted his class alongside Hardik Pandya throughout the tournament.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were back to their sizzling best in the longer format while Varun Chakravarthy grabbed all the chances that came his way, combining perfectly with Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami to spearhead India’s bowling department. In a post-game interview, Virat Kohli opened up on how the talent in the dressing room came together to win India the trophy after a rollicking run through the tournament.

Kohli said, “It's been amazing. Firstly, we wanted to bounce back after a tough Australia tour, wanted to win a big tournament and we ended up doing that. It's an amazing feeling. Lovely playing with a bunch of such amazing youngsters. So much talent in the changeroom, they're taking Indian cricket forward in the right direction.”

Talking about the role of the seniors, Kohli added, “We’re happy to share our experience and try to make an impact whenever we get a chance (role of the seniors) but these guys are stepping up in a massive way and that’s why we’re such a strong team. These are the things you look forward to when you’ve played for so long and have had such a long career, you look forward to playing under pressure and you walk in and put your hand up. I think to win titles, which has kind of been missing in the past, the whole team has to step up in different games.”

He also highlighted the unity of the Indian cricket team as the pivotal point in lifting the crown of the tournament, stating, “And you can see in this tournament, over the course of five matches, everyone has put their hand up somewhere or the other and that’s why we’ve ended up winning this tournament.”