Arokia Rajiv cherishes silver in 4x400m mixed relay

Just 48 hours before he won silver in the mixed 4x400m relay on Tuesday evening - with a timing of 3:15.71 along with Muhammed Anas, Hima Das and MR Poovamma - Arokia Rajiv was a dejected man after he missed out on a bronze in the men's 400m final.
The story was very different on Tuesday evening as Rajiv beamed for the cameras and celebrated along with his teammates. While Anas kicked off the race for India, Poovamma and Hima subsequently ran their stretch before Rajiv took over in the final 400m of the event."As Hima passed on the baton to me, all my thoughts were on giving it my best shot. I am ecstatic at winning a silver in what was a 'debut' for all of us as this event was being held for the first time in Asian Games and we just didn't know what to expect," the 27-year-old told TOI from Jakarta. The gold was won by Bahrain with 3:11.89 and bronze went to Kazakhstan at 3:19.52.
Rajiv revealed that the team didn't have any particular strategy while going for the event. "All we planned was to do our portions in the best way possible. It was a splendid debut and the focus even during our trainings in the last 3-4 months has centered on the baton exchange which is a crucial aspect of this race. As a team we had a great coordination and the result is a proof of that," Rajiv revealed. Rajiv did rue that the team couldn't finish with a gold. In fact, the Indian team management had lodged a complaint against Bahrain for obstruction to Hima during the race. The result is expected to be arriving on Wednesday.
Rajiv did concede that missing out on a bronze in the 400m final hurt him but he shrugged it off since there were events where he could make up for it. "I was definitely hurt and sad as the medal was so near yet so far. But this event is taking place for the first time in Asian Games and winning a medal here definitely makes me feel better after having remained down for the last two days," Rajiv said.