Nine players of Twenty20 team presented golden bat

Bangalore, Sep 28 (UNI) Former India skipper Rahul Dravid today advised his team mates not to rest on the laurels of the Twenty20 World cup victory but strive to perform consistently.

Speaking at a function organised to honour nine members of the victorious team here, Dravid was full of praise for the team's performance and said, ''The feat achieved by the young players in bringing Twenty20 world cup to the country has aroused the spirit and love among lakhs of young children playing the game in the street''.

''There was a need to inspire them further by performing at the same level,'' he said. ''Young kids will be inspired to perform well taking cue from their heroes.'' Elated at the rare presents to the members of the Twenty20 game by Reebok, the new ODI captain M S Dhoni revealed that everybody wanted to perform well and bring the Cup to the country when Team India left for South Africa. The kind of reception, the men in Blue received back home was tremendous and memorable. ''This we will not forget'' he said.

''The winning team members were also inspired by their senior colleagues, including Dravid, Sachin and Ganguly for their feat in South Africa,'' he said.

The Indian ODI skipper recalled that he was only two-year-old when Kapil Dev led Indian team won the Would Cup and had a dream to play for the country. Appreciating the gesture of Reebok for having honoured the team members for the achievement, he said, ''We will cherish it for many days to come.'' The dashing allrounder Yuvaraj Singh, who hit six sixes in an over against England also spoke on the occasion and said winning the Cup was the greatest experience and promised to give his best in the coming days also.

Earlier, Reebok, the leading sportswear brand presented s Golden bat to nine of the eleven cricket stars who represent Brand Reebok, at a glittering ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Reebok India Managing Director Subhinder Singh said the success of Team India members at the Twenty20 world cup was the mark of a ''young pulsating India'' and this was reflected in their performance.

Apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Phatan, R P Singh, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were presented with bats made of gold and trophies.

UNI