KARACHI: India's historic second successive World T20 Cup title has earned appreciation and grudging praise from former Pakistan stalwarts, players and critics.
Former Test captain and batting great Javed Miandad said any team that could get 250-plus totals in the semi-final and final deserved to be champions.
India posted a mammoth 255 for five in the final against New Zealand and won by handsome 96-run margin on Sunday night in Ahmedabad.
"Their team (India) is now reaping the benefits of a strong process-driven cricket structure," Miandad said.
"If you look at the talent they are producing now, it is because of their strong structure. They are not short on batters, spinners or fast bowlers and their young players are result-driven and have game awareness," he added.
The former great noted that when there is a winning culture and mentality established in a team's dressing room, it always leads to title wins which is why India also won the Champions Trophy last year.
"We had this environment in our dressing room once and we won frequently," he said.
Former captain Rashid Latif said India's triumph didn't come as a surprise because their players had now become accustomed to performing under pressure.
"When you regularly reach finals of big events players also get accustomed to winning," he said.
He also said that continuity and stability in the Indian cricket team was also an essential reason for their success unlike Pakistan where frequent changes and impatience has caused a host of problems.
Cricket host, analyst and writer, Dr Nauman Niaz said that India's dominant show in the final was an eye opener as to how well their players executed their roles and how well they had adapted to the changes in modern day T20 cricket.
"Their success is based around a perfect blend of young brave players and seniors coming through when most required like Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya did in the final," Niaz said.
Former Test pacer Sikander Bakht said until the prevailing culture of likes, dislikes and making incorrect selection and captaincy calls doesn't end, the Pakistan team would continue to struggle against big teams in big events.
"We must stop finding excuses for our failures and take the right decisions."
Former Test batsman and chief selector Muhammad Wasim, who was until last year the head coach of the Pakistan women's team, said until everyone in Pakistan accepted India's superiority as a team nothing will change.
"We generally try to find faults and float conspiracy theories whenever we lose to India or they do well in big events. We need to stop that and accept their team is a top side and we must try to improve ourselves by learning from our mistakes," Wasim said.
Former head coach Mohsin Khan said that because the Indian cricket board was paying so much attention to red ball and Test cricket, they are producing players who come through the grind.
"Plus, I don't see any insecurity among the Indian players. Maybe because financially their Board looks after them very well," Khan said.