08 January,2019 04:39 PM IST | Sydney | Gaurav Joshi
Hardik Pandya
It's 10.30pm in Sydney and the executive lounge on the 31st floor of the InterContinental Hotel here is shut. But that does not mean the Indian team members have stopped celebrating the country's first Test series win on Australian soil in their own way.
The Indian team along with the wives on the tour and the support staff celebrated together. Head coach Ravi Shastri wanted everyone at this party for the team's crowning glory in Test cricket. It is learnt that there was no shortage of red wine.
Hardik Pandya was not in the playing XI of the Sydney Test, which ended in a draw, thanks to the wet weather. But the flamboyant cricketer, according to sources, put on a night robe to dance to India's achievement. Never mind if he had to make his moves with just slippers. The jukebox came in handy when an iPod was connected to it. Some players danced, while others burst into laughter.
Everybody had the luxury of viewing the magnificent Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from the room. One member of the squad told mid-day that the celebrations, "were not wild, but it was an evening of relief." Indeed, because India lost the Test series in South Africa in early 2018 and could not pick itself up for the England Test series, which they lost 1-4.
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Earlier in the day, there were no emotional speeches in the dressing room, but plenty of hugs and bursts of laughter. Sydney was the place to be if you were an Indian cricket fan yesterday!
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