It's just the way people rose to the challenge – Paras Mhambrey on India’s World Cup winning mindset

Paras Mhambrey was an instrumental part of Rahul Dravid’s retinue of support staff for Team India that went on to win the T20 World Cup in Bridgetown against South Africa. India’s former bowling coach gave an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times Cricket, highlighting key aspects during his stint with the Indian cricket team.

Talking about the T20 World Cup triumph, Mhambrey said, “It took a little while. It happens once in your career, a once-in-a-lifetime moment. We couldn't leave the Caribbean because of the cyclone for the first few days (after the T20 World Cup win). When we finally travelled back home, the first thing was the meeting with the PM. Then, the kind of reception we got in Mumbai was unimaginable. It showed us what the Cup really meant for the nation. This win was for all of us.”

Adding further, he said, “It's just the way people rose to the challenge saying that this is the way we want to go ahead and obviously then have everyone on board to believe that this is the right way for us was heartening. Unless and until, you have each and every individual in that dressing room on the same page (It's difficult)... Every individual got the backing of the head coach and the captain. You need to take risks in this format.”

Mhambrey further added, “If you don't do that, you struggle. But there's always a chance that it may not come off. But if you have the backing from the captain and the coach, you go out there fearlessly and play that game. I think that complete backing from Rahul and Rohit really made the difference.”