Indian men’s cricket team on Saturday (October 7) bagged a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. It was their inaugural appearance in the continental event and Ruturaj Gaikwad and his men brought laurels for the country.

In the final match, India faced Afghanistan at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field in Hangzhou. The game was abandoned due to rain after the Men in Blue won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Afghanistan were 112/5 after 18.2 overs when the drizzle started and forced the officials to call the match off.

Consequently, India clinched the gold medal on the basis of being the higher-ranked team in the competition.

India skipper Rohit Sharma, who is all set to lead the country in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at home, lauded and congratulated the men’s cricket team on this achievement.

"I felt very nice, I just saw it being declared when I came in from the dressing room. I've never won a gold medal. But our team, the other team, has done it. So, I want to congratulate them. This is a big moment for our country. Winning a gold medal is a dream. We always used to watch on TV, gold medal. Today our cricketers, even women's team has won gold medal. So, salute," Rohit said while addressing the media on the eve of India’s World Cup opener against Australia in Chennai.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated the team for winning gold medal in their debut appearance.

“Our Men's Cricket Team strikes Gold in their debut appearence at the Asian Games. Heartiest congratulations to our incredible cricketers on this historic win. Their passion and teamwork have once again made the nation proud. My best wishes for their future endeavours,” PM Modi wrote in a post on X.

Last week, the Indian women’s cricket team won the gold medal at the Asian Games by defeating Sri Lanka in the final.

Overall, India ended their Asian Games campaign in Hangzhou with a record 107 medals, including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze