It was a total team effort by the 'Boys in Blue' who literally outclassed their South Asian neighbours in all departments of the game with a thoroughly professional performance.
Delhi Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid, on Thursday, admitted that missing a batsman of Quinton de Kock's calibre along with seasoned player JP Duminy will affect the balance and composition of the team going into 10th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).
Rediff.com brings you some interesting clicks from the by lanes of Indian cities that summarise the soccer madness...
South Africa had been to five previous World Cup semi-finals across all formats without success, but now stand on the brink of a career-defining moment for what is largely a young group of players.
After a dry, dreadful, spell of darkness and desolation, it looks like Bollywood love stories are ready to rock the silver screen again.
Dravid chose to be a bit more empathetic towards Gaikwad and Iyer
With the win on Sunday, India won the three-match series 3-0 and Santner pointed out that New Zealand were good in patches and failed to get wickets upfront.
'Oommen Chandy always had time for his people and valued their voices.' 'There was no rest for him as long as the betterment of his fellow citizens was at stake.' Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who knew the former Kerala chief minister for half a century, salutes a beloved leader who worked tirelessly for the welfare of its people.
After his half-century helped New Zealand register a series-levelling 19-run victory over India opener Martin Guptill said the conditions were tough for batting once the ball lost it's shine.
The school was run on strict Gandhian lines, with stress on students doing things themselves. Physical comforts were minimal, in keeping with the relatively backward geographical area. But it had a staff of teachers dedicated to educating their students, not just imparting them book-learning, remembers Shreekant Sambrani.
By refusing to follow the pack and remain politically correct, Aamir Khan has paid a price. A fascinating excerpt from Shobhaa De's new book, Insatiable.
Tendulkar praised Team India and said in every session there was a new hero who stepped up to the occasion to deliver for his side.
J R D Tata and Air India... Mrigank Warrier explores one of India's eternal love stories.
India's woeful performance notwithstanding, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has urged cricket fans to keep faith in the team.
Reliance's big-bang entry across the solar ecosystem will cut dependence on Chinese imports drastically. And Ambani's repeated emphasis that RIL's new energy foray will be 'a truly global business' points that his group is playing not just for a share of the Indian pie but to be the OEM in the larger 5,000 GW global market by 2030, points out Shailesh Dobhal.
IPL can be truly said to have come of age. It is now more Indian than ever before. Teams often fielded fewer than the four allowed foreign players. Indian batters and bowlers were simply better in performance, consistency and reliability, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
'There is no point in just saying, 'hum wapas bhej denge (we will send Kashmiri Pandits back)'.'
Tilak was picked up by Mumbai Indians on the second day of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Jahnavi Patel/ Rediff.com chats with Mowgli when he comes to Mumbai.
Skipper Virat Kohli was among the first ones to wish Hardik and Natasa. "Congratulations to you both," Kohli wrote responding to the photo of Hardik's baby boy.
For the first time ever, Alia has scored a Rs 100 crore+ weekend opener, which takes her straight to the superstar league.
Saurashtra secured a place in the Ranji Trophy final for the fifth time in the history of the tournament, defeating Karnataka
'So, I think the best thing that has happened is talking cricket amongst the team members and they had no choice, so they were forced to do it and that's been a big help.'
Ballooning debt forces more and more Indian promoters to sell out to global majors and PE players.
New Zealand pacer Trent Boult is hopeful that achieving game fitness rather than bowling in the nets will put him in 'good stead' in the upcoming ICC World Test Championship final against India.
It was Dalmiya's decision to open sports broadcasting to private channels in the country. Until the late 1990s, Doordarshan held sole rights to broadcasting BCCI events in India. Dalmiya along with IS Bindra, another cricket administrator, took on the state and fought for air waves to be opened up in cricket broadcasting.
'Sachin Tendulkar called him world's best fast bowler at the moment. Indeed he is, for the impact he has created. If you take Bumrah out of that India line-up, it's like you rip a heart out of the body'
'I grew up in a place that used to be the best city in India: Allahabad.' 'The city has given some of the best writers, politicians and musicians to the country. 'Today, it has gone to the dogs.'
India may have not won the third Test, but the team which has turned into an 'injury-ravaged' outfit walked out of the SCG with heads held high. The roar of a jubilant comeback from the Indian side will undoubtedly be echoed in the SCG stands for years to come.
"His elder brother Raj Kishan was a very talented cricketer. But then the parents needed to take a call that one boy would pursue sport and the other education. So Raj, being the elder sacrificed and pursued a medical degree.
'What The Kerala Story is trying to do is take the fake hate propaganda which we saw earlier only on WhatsApp to the big screen now.'
Australian skipper Steven Smith was a happy man with a dominating scoreline to the team's credit but did not forget to praise the good performance of the visitors.
The country's oldest book awards saw some interesting wins.
'I did a small role in Masoom.' 'Do you remember the scene where an old man brings Jugal Hansraj to Naseer's house?' 'I put on the full make-up of an old man and stood in front of Shekhar.' 'He had no choice but to take me.'
Narayan Jagadeesan on Monday broke the world record for the highest ever individual score in men's List A cricket by hammering a 141-ball 277 as Tamil Nadu trounced Arunachal Pradesh by a mammoth record margin of 435 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy
Fielding coach R Sridhar is aiming for improvement in the conversion rate for direct throws to effect more run outs in the World Cup.
Jubilee's irresistible celebration of cinema and all its good, bad, ugly ways lives up to its title, applauds Sukanya Verma.
Leander Paes said he is currently busy working on a biopic to portray the father-son duo's legacy on the big screen.
'Imagine for a soldier -- first you conquer territory after fighting a fierce battle, suffer casualties and then you are ordered to come back to your side of the International Border in India.'
As the curtain come down on 2022, Roshmila Bhattacharya flashbacks to some of the year's news-makers and events.
