Rohit Sharma, the former captain of India’s T20 team, has expressed his gratitude towards Rahul Dravid, Ajit Agarkar, and Jay Shah for their unwavering support during his tenure. He acknowledged their backing in his endeavor to bring out the best in his players without being overly concerned about the outcomes. This approach ultimately led to India’s triumphant campaign in the T20 World Cup.
India’s journey in the ICC tournament culminated in a resounding victory against South Africa in the final, held in Barbados. This marked their second T20 world title, with the first being clinched in 2007. Rohit, who spearheaded the team’s success, also announced his retirement from the shortest format following this remarkable achievement.
“It was my dream to transform this team and not worry too much about the stats, the results, to make sure that we create that environment where people can go out there and play freely without thinking too much,” Rohit said, as quoted by PTI, after being named the men’s international cricketer of the year at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards.
“That is what was required. I got a lot of help from my three pillars, who are actually Mr Jay Shah, Mr Rahul Dravid (and the) chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar,” he said.
“That was very critical for me to do what I did and obviously not to forget the players, who came in at different points in time and helped the team to achieve what we achieved,” he said.
Rohit expressed that the feeling of winning the World Cup, which ended India’s decade-long drought in global tournaments, was beyond words to describe.
“(It was) a feeling that cannot come everyday. It was something that we were really hoping for. When we won the World Cup, it was important for all of us to enjoy the moment which we did pretty well and thanks to our nation as well for celebrating with us,” he said.
“As much as it meant for us, it meant a whole lot to the entire nation as well. It felt really great to bring it (trophy) back home here and celebrate with everyone here.”
“(It is a) fantastic feeling that can never be put out in words. I don’t think it’s a feeling that can be expressed. It won’t do justice to our effect when all that happened,” Rohit said.
The Mumbaikar mentioned that he doesn’t worry about the exact weight of a bat, instead preferring to go by how it feels in his hands.
“The guys who spend time with me in the changing room where I put my stickers and I put the bat tape and all that, will tell you (that) whichever bat I pick up, I go and play with that,” he said.
“The balance of the bat for me is very important. I have seen a lot of guys who are pretty much into ‘how many grains the bat has’, ‘what is the weight of the bat’ and ‘how does it look from outside’, but I am not that kind of a person. I will pick up the bat and if I feel this is the right bat, I will go and play with that,” he said.
Despite leading the Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles as captain, Rohit’s hunger to add more trophies to his collection remains insatiable.
“There is a reason I won five IPL trophies. I’m not going to stop, because once you get the taste of winning games, winning Cups, you don’t want to stop and we’ll keep pushing as a team. We’ll keep striving for better things in the future,” he said.
As an extension, he wanted more success with India too as their ODI and Test leader.
“We’ve got a couple of solid tours coming up, very challenging ones as well. For us, it never stops. Once you achieve something you always look forward to achieving more.”
“That is what I will be doing. I’m pretty sure my teammates will be thinking on the same line. What I’ve seen in the last two years in Indian cricket, there’s some real excitement, some real good cricket is being played,” he added.
