The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released a video in which Rohit expressed how the team’s long-term efforts paid off, and that winning the tournament still feels like a dream.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma opened up about the Men in Blue’s second ICC T20 World Cup title win, stating that the feeling hasn’t fully set in and that he wants to enjoy every moment. A fine display of death bowling by Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya, as well as stupendous knocks by Virat Kohli and Axar Patel, helped India end their ICC trophy drought, defeating first-time finalists South Africa by seven runs in a thrilling final in Barbados on Saturday.
In a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rohit stated that winning the event is unreal and still feels like a dream because the team has fought hard for it for so long.
“Yes, the feeling is weird. I’d still say it hasn’t fully sunk in. It has been a fantastic occasion. It’s seemed like a dream since the game ended. We still believe it has not happened. It happened, but it doesn’t feel like it happened. That is the emotion or experience you are experiencing. We’ve been dreaming of this for a long time.
We put a lot of effort into our teamwork over a long period of time, so seeing this with us now makes us feel pretty relieved as well. After all, it feels good to work hard for anything and eventually succeed in it. We were really having a great time last night,” Rohit remarked.
“With our teammates, we had a great time until very early in the morning. I would thus reiterate that I did not get enough sleep. But I’m perfectly okay with that. You know, I’m perfectly ok not to sleep after a day like that. I have plenty of time to return home and rest. I will thus make up for that. Still, as I’ve already stated, this was a very, very wonderful time for all of us.
I wish to live it as well. I want to savor every second, every minute, and every moment that is fleeting. I want to utilize it to its fullest. You see, those things aren’t really… Since nothing was preplanned, I doubt I could adequately express it. He stated, “It was… It was everything… You know, whatever was coming naturally.”
In response to his act of tasting the Barbados pitch soil, Rohit stated that the pitch had given them their big break and that he wished he could have some of it. He added that the Kensington Oval Ground in Barbados would always remain in his memory.
“As you are aware… I was experiencing the moment when I arrived to the pitch since it provided us with this. We played on that specific pitch and prevailed in the match on that specific field as well. That pitch and that ground will always remain a part of my memory. I therefore desired to carry some of it with me. Indeed, those are truly unique moments. And I wanted a piece of the land where all of our dreams came true. That was the underlying emotion,” he said in closing.
In the championship game, India chose to bat first after winning the toss. Axar Patel (47 in 31 balls, including four sixes and one four) and Virat Kohli (76) combined for a counterattacking partnership of 72 runs to put India back in the game after they were reduced to 34/3. In their 20 overs, India reached 176/7 thanks to a 57-run partnership between Virat and Shivam Dube (27 in 16 balls, three fours, and a six.
South Africa’s best bowlers were Keshav Maharaj (2/23) and Anrich Nortje (2/26). Everybody took a wicket except Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen.Proteas was reduced to 12/2 in the chase for 177 runs, but a 58-run stand between Quinton de Kock (39 in 31 balls, four boundaries and a six) and Tristan Stubbs (31 in 21 balls, three fours and a six) got South Africa back into the contest. Heinrich Klaasen’s fifty-two (in 27 balls, with two fours and five sixes) almost put India out of the match. To hold SA to 169/8 in their 20 overs, Arshdeep Singh (2/18), Jasprit Bumrah (2/20), and Hardik Pandya (3/20) produced a brilliant comeback in the last overs.
Virat’s effort earned him the title of “Player of the Match.” India’s wait for an ICC trophy is now over as they won their first one since the Champions Trophy in 2013.
