Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
Satya Nadella, chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, was one among the millions of fans who watched the thrilling ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final between India and New Zealand on Wednesday.
During his keynote address at the Microsoft Ignite 2023 developer conference in Seattle, Nadella said he stayed up all night to watch the India-NZ semi-final match. After arriving on the stage, Nadella said, “Little did we know when we scheduled Ignite (the name of the conference), that we will schedule it on the day when there is a World Cup semi-final going on.”
He added, “And I’ve been up all night, but it finished five minutes ago. I am glad it did. By the way, this is the short version of the game.”
Nadella, an avid cricket fan, has previously stated that cricket was one of his “passions” during his childhood in India and that “playing cricket taught me more about working in teams and leadership that has stayed with me throughout my career”.
The Microsoft CEO has played competitive cricket as a member of his school’s team and enjoys watching Test cricket.
Earlier this year, the GMR Group (co-owners of Delhi Capitals) and Nadella and GMR Group-led consortium bagged the rights to own and operate a team in Major League Cricket (MLC), a new T20 franchise league in the US.
India-NZ World Cup 2023 semi-final match
India had posted a 398-run target for New Zealand, with Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer scoring hundreds. The New Zealand were bowled out for 327, with Mohammed Shami picking seven wickets. The Men in Blue defeated New Zealand by 70 runs and stormed into the ICC World Cup 2023 final.
First Published: Nov 16 2023 | 2:02 PM IST
