New Delhi | The on-field celebrations after India's second T20 World Cup title in 18 months were not particularly exuberant to say the least, perhaps they reflected the habit of winning that the shortest format team has normalised.
Yes there where smiles and hugs all around and few of the players even did an impromptu bhangra gig after one of the most emphatic wins in ICC finals. Yet, the players' immediate reactions suggested that deep down they knew only an exceptionally bad day in office could have denied them the trophy.
Rohit Sharma and his team getting over the line in that 2024 final in Barbados ended a prolonged period of heartbreak in world events. The victory on Sunday night had an air of inevitability to it.
The average age of the current squad is close to 30 and therefore a majority of them should remain at the peak of their powers when another T20 World Cup comes calling in Australia and New Zealand in the second half of 2028.
But before defending the trophy Down Under, the players will get a rare opportunity to win an Olympic gold in Los Angeles when cricket returns to the Summer Games after a gap of 128 years.
Among India's victorious 15, only captain Suryakumar Yadav, 35, is on the wrong side of 30s but he is already backing himself to play those two major events in 2028.
"Throughout the journey till today, it has been very special and collectively as a team what we've achieved, I think it's right in front of you so very happy with that. Definitely the next goal is Olympics, Olympic gold and also the T20 World Cup that year. Don't forget," reminded Suryakumar to a packed press conference room after completing a clinical rout of New Zealand in Ahmedabad.
The Indian captain has not been as consistent as he would want to of late but he does see himself contributing to the next T20 cycle and do his bit to maintain the team's undisputed dominance.
"Five years?" inquired Suryakumar when asked about his motivation to maintain India's superiority in the next four to five years.
After getting a freehand to decide on the timeline, Suryakumar said "let's do it".
"Obviously very excited the way things have gone since 2024. The way we've played, we won three ICC trophies in a row (including ODI Champions Trophy).
"I think that drought ended in 2024 after a really long time and from there we never looked back. We knew how we wanted to play going forward. Everything was changed post 2024.
"We won an ICC Champions Trophy in 2025 (under Rohit Sharma), played a completely different brand of cricket, and now in 2026, we wanted to do something special in front of home crowd right here. So, we want to continue doing that in 2027, 28, 29 and never stop," said Suryakumar, who is a one format player.
Another senior member of the side, Hardik Pandya, who is 32, feels he still has another 10 years left in him and wants to add half a dozen more world titles to his existing tally of three.
And if another 32-year-old, 'national treasure' Jasprit Bumrah, is able to manage his workload in the times to come, the job of winning a third title on the bounce will be a lot easier.
Speaking to Star Sports, Pandya pointed out the difference in the 2024 and 2026 campaigns for him personally.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja had announced their T20 retirements following the drought-ending win in Barbados.
"The win had a lot of difficulties, a lot had happened. For me, that was about redemption and make my fifth comeback. This win is is something I lived for and played cricket for," said Pandya.
Pandya was probably the most animated in his celebrations out of all the squad members. The humour was not lost on him when he was called a super senior of the team.
"It sounds very good that I am a senior player but I have still got 10 years left. Half of my career is over and half is left. I want to win at least 10 ICC trophies. I have got three. In 10 years, I want to win six-seven at least. That is my goal," added Pandya.
Whether it was dropping vice-captain Shubman Gill leading up to the tournament for accommodating Sanju Samson at the top of the order, or bringing back Ishan Kishan into the squad out of nowhere, the team management and selectors made some bold calls in the team's interests.
As the final result would suggest, both those tough calls needed to be taken. The decision-makers are bound to face a few difficult calls as they go along in the next cycle to ensure the Indian juggernaut keeps rolling.
