(Source X)
India captain Rohit Sharma, who had been awaiting an ICC trophy for a significant period, finally clinched one, marking India’s first ICC title in 11 years. Following the victory, emotions ran high among the Indian players, many of whom were visibly moved to tears.
On the field, celebrations were fervent with players embracing and rejoicing together. However, Rohit Sharma surprised everyone with an unexpected gesture: he was spotted eating a piece of grass from the pitch at Kensington Oval. This act drew parallels to Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic’s similar celebration after winning Wimbledon in 2011 by defeating Rafael Nadal in the final.
In a video shared by the BCCI on social media, Rohit Sharma offered insight into his unique grass-eating celebration. Rohit expressed that he wanted to commemorate the pitch that played a pivotal role in India’s World Cup victory by taking a piece of it.
“Nothing was scripted. I was feeling the moment. When I went to the pitch that pitch gave us this (WC trophy). We played on that particular pitch and we won the game. That particular ground as well, I will remember that ground forever in my life and that pitch as well,” Rohit said.
“I wanted to have a piece of it (the pitch). Those moments are very very special. The place where all our dreams came true, I wanted something of it. So, that was the feeling behind it,” he added.
The Indian captain further elaborated on his emotions following the T20 World Cup victory. He emphasized that winning the World Cup brought immense relief to a team that had dedicated considerable effort over a prolonged period.
“Yeah, the feeling is surreal. I would still say it hasn’t sunk in totally. It’s been a great moment right from when the game got over till now. It feels like a dream we still feel that it hasn’t happened. Although it has happened but it feels like it hasn’t happened. That’s the emotion, that’s the meaning that you have,” Rohit explained.
“We’ve dreamt about this for such a long period of time. We worked hard as a unit for such a long period of time and to say this is with us, feels a relief as well because when you work hard for something and you eventually get it at the end, it feels really nice,” the opener exclaimed.
“Last night, we were having a good time. We had a blast with the teammates till early morning. Again I would say we didn’t sleep properly but that’s absolutely fine by me. Not to have sleeps after a day like that is totally fine. There is lot of time for me to go back home and sleep. This moment was very special for us and I want to live each moment, each second, each minute that is passing by. I want to make the most of it,” Rohit revealed the celebrations of the night when India lifted the trophy.
Following their T20 World Cup triumph, India’s stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bid farewell to T20I cricket. Shortly thereafter, senior player Ravindra Jadeja also announced his retirement from the format.
