Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first Indian cricket fan to wish the Men in Blue on their qualification for the ICC World Cup semi-finals after their crushing win over Sri Lanka in Mumbai on Thursday.
India poster a mammoth total of 357 for 8 in 50 overs and then bowled out Sri Lanka for 55 to win by 302 runs, their biggest margin of victory in ODI World Cup history.
Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Shami were the chief architechts at the Wankhede Stadium as India registered their seventh win in succession to become the first team to reach the knockouts of this tournament.
PM Modi, who is known to be a massive cricket buff, took to social media to congratulate Rohit Sharma's team on their latest triumph.
"Team India is unstoppable in the World Cup!
"Congratulations to the team on a stellar victory against Sri Lanka! It was a display of exceptional teamwork and tenacity," Modi tweeted on X.
India continue to steamroll opposition
With 14 points from seven games, Rohit Sharma's army will like to finish with an all-win record as they now face South Africa in Kolkata on November 5 and the Netherlands in Bengaluru on November 12.
Mohammed Shami (5/18 in 5 overs) took his second five-wicket haul in this edition and with 45 scalps, became India's highest wicket-taker in World Cup history.
Mohammed Siraj (3/16 in 7 overs) was equally incisive and Jasprit Bumrah (1/8 in 5 overs) formidable as ever in a picture-perfect bowling performance.
As the Indian juggernaut rolls on, every performance seems like a dream played on a loop.
It was fascinating to see how the same 22 yards looked so different when the two teams batted.
While Virat Kohli (88 off 94 balls) missed out on a world record-equalling 49th ODI hundred with the maestro Sachin Tendulkar himself in attendance, batting seemed like the easiest job on the planet.
Shubman Gill (92 off 92 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (82 off 56 balls) pulverised the opposition even as they missed out on personal landmarks. (With PTI inputs)
