T20 World Cup: In India’s Barbados triumph, team manager and PCA secretary joins an illustrious list

He shared his joy for being part of this historic campaign of the Indian cricket team.

“When BCCI secretary Jay Shah entrusted me with the opportunity of being the BCCI representative and Indian team manager for the T20 World Cup, all I could think about was how I could add value to the role. Over the last month, as the Indian team, along with support staff and other members of the contingent, travelled through the US and West Indies during this historic title winning campaign, we all experienced some of the best memorable moments of our life.

“To see the Indian team winning the T20 World Cup from close remains a special memory for all of us,” Khanna (33) told The Indian Express from Barbados.

While PR Man Singh was the Indian team manager during the 1983 World Cup triumph in England, former DDCA secretary late Sunil Dev held the position during India’s first T20 World Cup win in South Africa. Former Odisha cricketer and politician Ranjib Biswal was the Indian team manager during the 2011 World Cup win.

The Indian team’s second T20 World Cup Trophy triumph meant that Khanna joined the list of the Indian team managers with the World Cup winning Indian cricket teams. It was a tense final for the Indian team with South Africa once looking to win their first World Cup before a spirited Indian bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah stalled their progress.

PCA secretary Dilsher Khanna with Rahul Dravid. (Express photo)

With Indian captain Sharma and Virat Kohli and later Ravindra Jadeja announcing their T20I retirement, Khanna shared his moments with the trio. “It was very emotional for Rohit and Virat as well as all other team members. We all know that how the Indian team wanted to end this title drought and to go on a high meant a lot for both Rohit and Virat.

When South Africa were looking to win the match, we all sitting in the dugout had the belief that India could pull it back. And we did exactly that.

The most memorable moment for me was when the whole Indian cricket team along with support staff and coach Rahul Dravid spent close to 30 minutes in a team huddle when all had left the stadium. It was all about thankfulness and appreciation for everybody and a special moment,” said Khanna.

The T20 World Cup also meant that Khanna spent time in the US and West Indies and spent time at various stadiums and venues as part of the Indian team management. The 33-year-old, who took over as the secretary of PCA in May, 2022, sees this experience also as a learning experience in terms of cricket administration.

“This was my first time as an Indian team manager and my role was primarily to be the liaison between BCCI and ICC apart from managing things like player discipline and coordination between coach and team apart from overseeing logistics managers. Seeing an ICC event from close also helped me as an administrator,” he said.