India’s ODI captain Rohit Sharma shared his thoughts on kissing India’s all-rounder and the cornerstone of India’s T20 World Cup victory Hardik Pandya after the win at Barbados, West Indies. Rohit recalled the emotional moment and also stated that the win was impossible without Hardik’s clutch last over. Notably Hardik bowled the last over against South Africa in the final game defending 16 of the last 6 balls. He dismissed David Miller on the first bowl with the help of Suryakumar Yadav’s acrobatic catch and then the proteas failed to chase the target. India won the game by 7 runs.
Rohit while talking to Star Sports/Jio Hotsar on their special show “Champions wali feeling phir se” reliving the T20 World Cup 2024 spoke how emotional the moment was after the winning and then he kissed the all-rounder after the win and even said Hardik Pandya “My Man”.
“This was an emotional moment. Hardik is my man, he did the job for me and the team otherwise we would’ve been sitting without anything in our hands,” Rohit said on Star Sports.
Earlier Hardik dismissed the star batter Heinrich Klaasen who looked all set to take South Africa home but the all-rounder dismissed him at a crucial juncture of the game when things looked gloomy for India. A single wicket changed the game and momentum and eventually India turned the tables miraculously.
Rohit On Win
The right-handed batter also shared his emotions after the long-awaited victory, reflecting on what it meant to finally break the knockout curse that had haunted India for over a decade. For 11 years, the Indian team had struggled to get past the final hurdles in ICC tournaments, often faltering on the biggest stage despite being one of the most formidable sides on paper.
“It meant so much to all of us, to that group. We’d experienced the heartbreak of coming so close and falling short. That’s why it was special. We planned meticulously. We worked hard every single day, constantly thinking about how to win the World Cup. That’s why every player’s emotions came pouring out on that day,” he said.
Missed Chances
Since lifting the Champions Trophy in 2013 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India endured a series of painful defeats in crucial matches. They lost the 2014 T20 World Cup final to Sri Lanka, followed by a crushing semi-final defeat to Australia in the 2015 ODI World Cup. The 2016 T20 World Cup on home soil ended in disappointment too, with West Indies knocking India out in the semi-finals. In 2017, arch-rivals Pakistan stunned India in the Champions Trophy final, and in 2019, another semi-final exit came at the hands of New Zealand in the ODI World Cup.
But perhaps the most heartbreaking of them all was the 2023 ODI World Cup final, where India, unbeaten until then and playing at home, suffered a crushing defeat to Australia. The weight of those repeated failures made this victory all the more special
