"Won the 2013 Champions Trophy on the same ground"- Suresh Raina after India lifts WCL title

Former India batter Suresh Raina expressed his happiness after winning the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2024 title at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Raina accepted that playing in the UK has always been special as India won the Champions Trophy here back in 2013.

The final match of WCL 2024 was played between India Champions and Pakistan Champions. With both teams consisting of the great players of their generation, it was expected to be a cracker of a contest between the arch-rivals. It turned out to be the same but India proved to be too good for Pakistan as they won the match by 5 wickets.

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Suresh Raina speaks after winning the World Championship of Legends 2024 title

After the match, former India player and commentator Nikhil Chopra interviewed Suresh Raina and Gurkeerat Mann. When asked how it felt to play in front of a crowd of 20000 people, Raina thanked the organization and remembered the time when India won the Champions Trophy 2013 on the same ground.

"It's been amazing. Special credit to the organization. I think playing in the UK has always been special for us. We won the Champions Trophy 2013 on this ground. Again we've won it (WCL) today," Raina said.

Nikhil Chopra reminded Raina that it was the same day on which India won the Champions Trophy in 2013, to which Raina replied, "Absolutely. Having played with the legends of the game, it's been amazing."

Raina further lauded the captaincy of Yuvraj Singh and praised the contributions of the Pathan brothers and Harbhajan Singh. He also mentioned the crowd's support for the tournament and claimed that all the teams played well.

"I think he (Gurkeerat Mann) played really well. Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) led the team really well. Pathan brothers have been amazing. Look at Harbhajan Singh. At the age of 39-40 (44 years), he is bowling really well," Raina mentioned.

"Special mentions to the crowd. They've been coming here every time whenever we played against Pakistan. Pakistan played really well. At the same time, Australia, the West Indies also played well. As you said, today is the day when we won the Champions Trophy and God has been really kind to us," the 37-year-old added.

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Gurkeerat Mann also echoed Raina's sentiments and claimed that he loved playing in this tournament

"I think I loved playing here. The atmosphere is amazing. Even the level of cricket has been amazing here and playing with Paaji (Suresh Raina) is a pleasure," Gurkeerat said.

India Champions beat Pakistan Champions in WCL 2024 final to clinch the title

Coming to the match, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. But their decision backfired as the Men in Green kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Their strong batting order could not deal with the pressure of the final and kept losing wickets in search of quick runs.

Indian bowlers bowled to a particular plan and kept things tight. Shoaib Malik scored 41 runs for Pakistan while Anureet Singh picked up 3-43 in four overs as Pakistan scored 156-6 in 20 overs.

Chasing 157 to win, India got off to a bright start but Robin Uthappa and Suresh Raina perished in search of quick runs in the powerplay. But Ambati Rayudu played a match-winning knock and stitched an important partnership with Gurkeerat Mann. Rayudu departed soon after his fifty. But Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan kept their composure and kept the run-chase under control.

Despite Yuvraj struggling at one end, Yusuf Pathan played a brilliant cameo of 30 off 16 balls to help India reach closer to the total. Irfan Pathan hit the first ball of the final over for a four to finish off the game.