India captain Rohit Sharma said an emotional goodbye to 2024 with a moving video on Instagram. The mosaic of personal and professional moments shared in the clip gave a glimpse of the rollercoaster ride through the year, which for this 37-year-old cricketer has witnessed joy, heartbreak, and memories to die for.
Rohit began the video with celebrating Holi, his favourite festival with family and friends. The lively colors and laughs gave way to vignettes of conversations with his wife Ritika Sajdeh, Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty, and fans.
Those moments made personal connections so paramount in Rohit's life.
"For all the ups and downs, and everything in between, Thank you 2024," posted Rohit on Instagram.
Highlights from his cricketing journey also featured prominently. The clip included a snapshot of Rohit posing alongside Rinku Singh, a rising star, and moments from India's 4–1 series victory against England earlier in the year. A humorous nod to his widely popular "Garden me ghoomne wale bande" social media post added a lighthearted touch to the montage.
One particularly emotional episode relived India's victory in the Men's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA. Footage was recorded of Rohit holding the trophy and celebrating the win in an open-bus parade in India, with his daughter Samaira on his shoulders. For Rohit, the T20 World Cup win was bittersweet because it marked his retirement from T20Is, thus closing a very significant chapter of his glittering career.
Rohit shared an poignant image of himself walking back to the pavilion after dismissal, so stark a reminder of his form struggles in the last couple of months. India are trailing 1-2 in the five-match Test series against Australia.
Rohit had a torrid time as a batsman in the three matches so far and has scored just 31 runs at an average of 6.20, attracting flak from fans and experts.
India's crushing defeat by 184 runs in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne continued to pile more pressure on him, as now he is in a winless scenario of his six Tests as the captain.
Coming into the contest, Rohit Sharma is well aware that pressure will be high on him leading India into comeback mode in the upcoming New Year Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground staring from January 3.
