Former players spoke highly of the young team's ability to perform under pressure and said it augurs well for the future of Indian cricket despite the recent retirements of many stalwarts.
The cricket fraternity today hailed the Indian team's "tremendous achievement" of winning the ICC Champions Trophy with some former players raising a toast for captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's "ability to rise from the ashes" and instill confidence in his young teammates.
Former players spoke highly of the young team's ability to perform under pressure and said it augurs well for the future of Indian cricket despite the recent retirements of many stalwarts.
"It really has been a fantastic team because the way they have played, the way they have won every match, the way they have come out of tough situations, just speaks of a champion's mentality and that's what we have seen throughout this tournament," former skipper Sunil Gavaskar said.
"He (Dhoni) has got this ability of rising from the ashes. It is his temperament where he has treated those two imposters -- fame and failure -- in just the same manner. I think that is the reason why he is able to bounce back after a tough time," Gavaskar said.
Former India captain Gundappa Viswanath also lauded Dhoni who now holds the unique record of being the only captain to win three world titles in the sport.
"It's a tremendous win. We expected them to win, especially after the way they started the tournament.
"Full marks to M S Dhoni. Now, he has all the world titles to his name. He is undoubtedly one of the best captains we have ever produced. There has been no change in his captaincy and he has been continuing in the same way with his cool and composed approach to the game and is taking up the challenge up front," Vishwanath said.
Another former Indian captain and selector, Krishnamachari Srikkanth said that India has again proved their superiority.
"This is an excellent win. Yet again they proved that they are the best team in the world in one-dayers. In 2011 they won the World Cup and again they proved their superiority with solid performances," he said.
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