Sunil Gavaskar ran out of adjectives for the Indian T20I team after their stunning third T20I win over New Zealand, so he created his own: ‘supercalifragilisticfantabulous’.
It was close to ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’,
a 34-letter nonsense word, popularised by the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins, meaning fantastic and extraordinary. That’s just about the right explanation for the Men in Blue keeping the Kiwis down to a sub-par 153 in 20 overs in Guwahati and then chasing it down in only ten overs, with Jasprit Bumrah (3/17) and Abhishek Sharma (68 off 20) shining bright again.
“Look at everything, not just the batting,” Gavaskar said during the post-match show on JioHotstar. “Their bowling, their catching, their outfielding, they were a champion side. What do we do against this side? How do we stop this side? This is a side to beat. This is a side that will take some beating.”
New Zealand managed a much better 208/6 in the first innings of the last match, but India again chased that down in record time — 15.2 overs. The first T20I was the most closely contested, and even though India won by 48 runs. The series is now sealed 3-0, to make it a record 11 series wins on the trot for the team.
Can Abhishek Sharma beat Yuvraj Singh’s record?
Abhishek reached his half-century off just 14 balls, missing his idol Yuvraj Singh’s record by two deliveries. But Gavaskar believes that he’s only getting closer.
“Getting to a fifty that quickly is very tough,” he said. “But what Abhishek has been showing over the last many matches is that he’s capable of doing that. One time he’s done it in 14 deliveries, another time in 16, so he’s getting there. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll go past it,” Gavaskar said. “And if that happens, the happiest person will be Yuvraj. There is a little tinge when your record is taken, but who has taken it? An Indian. That’s what matters.”
