Every successful event calls for a party of the highest level, and when the India cricket team wins in the best fashion possible, the next two-three days can be worth an all-India party. Fortunately, Holi 2016 has just fallen around this time.
MS Dhoni and Co edged past Bangladesh in a dramatic ICC World T20 2016 group match Wednesday by a mere one run. Almost everyone must have thought the Men in Blue would find it rather comfortable and easy against the Bangla Tigers, but that wasn't the case by any means.
The Bangladesh pair of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah made sure the end of the match was a thriller of the highest level. Oh, and there's India's Hardik Pandya as well.
The 22-year-old Baroda-born all-rounder played possibly one of the best matches in an Indian jersey against Bangladesh. Captain Cool, Dhoni, gave him the responsibility of bowling the last over of the match, and every single delivery from the medium pacer turned out to be a milestone in itself.
1, 4, 4, W, W, W — that's how Pandya's over turned out.
"It is the biggest moment of my life. To defend those runs and win the match for your country is special. To be honest, the plan was simple and that was to not concede those 11 runs in the final over. It paid off, [sic]" Pandya told BCCI.
"He [MS Dhoni] didn't tell me much [before the last over]. He just told me 'bindaas kar' (bowl without any fear) because he knows that if I do something with confidence, I would get success. He gave me full freedom to bowl the way I wanted to," the youngster added.
The "bindaas kar" statement from Dhoni did really help Pandya give his best shot and the Men in Blue celebrated the thrilling victory against Bangladesh by embracing the festival of colours and saying "Happy Holi" in the best way possible. The likes of Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri and Harbhajan Singh wished supporters on the occasion of the festival.
Yuvraj Singh, meanwhile, also crooned the "Rang barse" number to give out his message. Catch the full video HERE.
The India Women cricket team also took time off from their training session in Mohali and celebrated Holi by smearing gulaal on each other's faces.