Indian captain Rohit Sharma showed his ultimate satisfaction to have won the 2024 T20 World Cup and has termed this as the crowning glory of his entire career. He expressed how he has always looked towards winning matches and trophies for India.
This final was the most awaited one, owing to the fact that two unbeaten teams were going to face off. India emerged the winner of the match between India and South Africa by a nail-biting seven runs. It was after this win that Rohit and Virat Kohli finally confirmed that they had played their last international game in T20 cricket.
At the post-match press conference, Rohit reflected on the significance of the win: "This has to be the greatest time, I can say that. It's only because how desperately I wanted to win this." He did mention his focus on 'team highs rather than personal stats', underscoring an emotional intensity to the occasion and deep personal meaning ascribed to the victory.
How emotionally invested in the win he was could be gauged from the fact that Rohit was running on the ground, tears of joy in his eyes. "I wanted this badly. It's very hard to put it in words because that moment, I don't want to say what I was thinking and what was going in my mind, but it was a very emotional moment personally for me," he shared.
Rohit dedicated the win of the T20 World Cup to head coach Rahul Dravid, citing his immense contribution to Indian cricket over the years. "More than any one of us, I think he deserved that trophy. What he has done for Indian cricket for the past 20-25 years; I think this was the only thing that was missing in his cabinet," Rohit said in a thankful tone.
Talking about the strategy of that victory, Rohit explained how he has always believed in having a competitive amount on board irrespective of the nature of the pitch. I'm a believer of just having runs on the board in big games. That's how my mind works," Rohit said while putting faith in his bowling unit to successfully defend any target posted.
Even if the result of the match had gone different, Rohit believes in standing by the decision to bat first. "I know the result came in our favour, but even if the result didn't come in our favour, I would have still completely backed the decision of batting first," he said.
Rohit finally thanked all his team members for their contribution towards the victory. "I am very lucky to have players like this in my squad, players who are playing for me and Team India - really, really grateful and thankful as well," he said appreciatively.
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