India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, broke down in tears after his country’s second T20 World Cup victory.
Head down, Rohit Sharma went flat on his stomach. He gave the ground a couple of slaps on the turf, shook his head, and stood up.
The Indian captain shed a tear or two as well, and then several of the players and support staff rushed to give him their congratulations.
Royit has been saying for the past two years that his team deserved a chance to shine, and they did, both in the WTC final the previous year and in the November 2023 ODI World Cup.
In the face of loss, Rohit never wavered in his resolve to lead India to a justifiable title victory, which finally materialized on June 29 in Barbados following a seven-run triumph against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final.
After a 23-ball fifty, the fastest fifty recorded by a batsman in a T20 World Cup final, Heinrich Klaasen leveled the score at 25 off 25, posing a danger to win it all for South Africa on his alone.
But India recovered, thanks to three wickets from Hardik Pandya in his final two overs and another from Jasprit Bumrah, to win their second T20 World Cup title and first in 17 years.
After the victory, Rohit lost control of his emotions and started crying. Virat Kohli and the other players consoled him before the players at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown broke into joyful celebrations.
The Indian skipper was still crying when Rohit proceeded to the Indian dugout to meet his wife Ritika and daughter Samaira. The family had a touching moment together.
The most viral moment, though, happened later when Rohit made his way to the middle of the court and imitated Novak Djokovic by picking grass from the ground and eating it, much like the Serbian had done after each of his seven Wimbledon victories.
Thirteen years ago at the SW19, Djokovic performed it for the first time as part of his post-match celebrations after defeating Rafael Nadal.
He clarified later in an interview in 2018: “It’s a little custom, certainly.” Like any child, I used to dream of winning Wimbledon, so one of my childhood dreams was to do something outrageous if and when I did achieve my goal.
