Rohit Sharma-led Team India celebrate Diwali ahead of Netherlands clash

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Ahead of India’s last league game of the ODI World Cup against the Netherlands at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, Rohit Sharma-led ‘Men in Blue’ dressed in traditional clothes to celebrate Diwali.

India batter KL Rahul took to his official social media account and shared a group picture of the whole squad wearing ‘kurta pyjamas’ to celebrate the ‘festival of lights’.

“From us to all of you, Happy Diwali,” Rahul wrote on his Instagram while sharing the picture.

Hosts India have displayed a quality performance at the ongoing extravagant tournament and maintained their eight-game winning streak. India stand at the top of the ODI World Cup 2023 standings with 16 points. They have a net run rate of +2.456.

India started their campaign after defeating Australia. The ‘Men in Blue’ then went on to defeat Afghanistan, their arch-rival Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.

In their previous encounter against the Proteas, the ‘Men in Blue’ clinched a one-sided 243-run win at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Following Virat Kohli’s 49th century, and Shreyas Iyer’s 77-run knock India gave a target of 326 runs. In the second inning, Ravindra Jadeja bagged five wickets in his nine-over spell to help India dismiss South Africa at 83 runs. Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav also picked up two wickets against the Proteas.

India’s ODI World Cup 2023 squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav.