India vs South Africa T20 World Cup 2024 – Rohit Sharma: Winning this World Cup is my biggest achievement

It was the best of times and the worst of times.

Rohit Sharma has been so desperate for a world title that he has ranked this T20 World Cup win as the best moment and greatest achievement of his career. “It was definitely the best moment, I can say that,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference. “It just goes to show how badly I wanted to win it. So I think all the runs I’ve got over the years are important but I don’t get hung up on the stats or anything like that. I think winning matches for India, winning trophies for India, that’s what I always look forward to. And now that this is right there on my doorstep, I can honestly say that I don’t know if it’s the best but it’s definitely one of the best moments.”

Asked how he felt as he collapsed to the ground to celebrate his win, Rohit again spoke of his despair. “I really wanted this win,” he said. “It’s very difficult to put into words because I don’t want to say what I was thinking or what was going on in my mind at that moment, but it was a very emotional moment for me personally.”

“I wish I could have filmed that moment myself, but that doesn’t really happen. You can’t do that. But I will always remember that moment. Oh, you wait for those moments and you don’t plan for them, they just happen because you crave certain things in life. I too have been craving this in my life and I’m so happy that I finally crossed the line this time.”

Rohit brought the trophy to the press conference. He has come close to winning the World Cup many times since his first win in 2007. He missed out on the national team at the last moment in 2011 but has played a key role in India winning five out of six World Cups by knockout. The final defeat, which ended his unbeaten domestic run, is what saddened him the most.

With no clear transition plan, Rohit and coach Rahul Dravid agreed to give it another go. Rohit spoke highly of Dravid. “I think he deserves this trophy more than any of us,” Rohit said. “What he’s done for Indian cricket over the last 20-25 years, I think this was the one thing that was missing from his cabinet. On behalf of the entire team, I’m very happy that we all actually got to do this for him. You could see how proud he was, how excited he was.”

“He has contributed a lot to Indian cricket during his playing days. He has worked hard with this team for the last three years. Many times he had to curb his instincts because it is not easy to get the players on his wavelength. So Rahul bhai restrained himself. He learnt what the players wanted. He made it his priority. Rahul bhai did that for the entire team. He tried to understand what the players wanted and what he needed to give to the players. Rahul bhai cannot bat because at the end of the day we have to do our job.

“For three years, he has given clear roles to the players. He kept in touch with the players who were not in the team, keeping them updated on what was going on with the team, when they would return and what their role would be when they returned. Rahul is a keen learner. When he came, this was the first thing he paid attention to. You have to let the players know what you want from them.”

Rohit hinted at differences of opinion among the braintrust ahead of the final but decided that as captain he had to bat first. He has won six IPL titles, four of which have been won while batting first. “I believe in scoring runs in big games,” he said. “That’s how I think about it. Not everyone in the team needs to think that way.”

“But I have to make decisions and I made it very clear that no matter what pitch we get or what the situation is, we have to get the runs and then battle through. You have talent in your bowling and I’ve seen how the boys have handled the ball so I was confident that whatever runs we got we could defend them.”

“I know the result was in our favour but even if the result had been against us I would have fully supported the decision to bat first. I think the pitch was in good condition, the pitch was really good throughout the 40 overs. After the first half it didn’t really grip as much as we thought it would. The sun was beating down hard, there was no grass on the pitch and it looked pretty dry, but obviously the pitch must have rolled a lot and got water in it and got hard. But yeah, that was the thought and we had a clear thought about that decision too, which was to try and get the runs up and defend them later.”

Rohit named many players who contributed to the win in the final, but was particularly complimentary of Jasprit Bumrah, who was named Player of the Tournament. “I can’t say enough about Bumrah,” said Rohit. “Obviously, we’ve been watching him play for a long time and whenever he has the ball in his hands, he always creates magic for us. I am very lucky to have players like him in my team and I’m really grateful to the players who play for me and for Team India.”