'I was panicking, I wasn’t comfortable' - Rohit Sharma reflects on Virat Kohli calming dressing room in T20 World Cup final
Virat Kohli won the Player of the Match award in the Finals of the T20 World Cup 2024 against South Africa.
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India's T20 World Cup-winning skipper, Rohit Sharma, recently opened up about an unheard moment of the final in Barbados, where the Men in Blue defeated South Africa by seven runs to lift their second T20 World Cup title.
Rohit reflected on how Virat Kohli's innings anchored the side after a poor start. India, having opted to bat first, suffered a poor start after losing Rohit, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav early. The opener admitted that the atmosphere in the dressing room was tense
“If you hit three boundaries in the first over, then you’ve started well. That’s what every cricketer wants. The experience of playing for India for so many years helps. You can control your emotions, control your thoughts, and stay in the moment. I’m sure he was thinking the same: ‘Today is the day I need to be focused.’ Not worrying about what happened before. And he played a brilliant innings.
A fantastic partnership with Axar. After losing those three wickets up front, there were obviously a lot of nerves in the dressing room. I was panicking. I wasn’t comfortable. I thought we’d let them into the game. Of course, in the back of my mind, I always believed our lower middle order, although it hadn’t batted much during the tournament, had made an impact whenever given the opportunity,” Rohit told JioCinema.
Rohit-Kohli to feature only in ODIs
Kohli, who had struggled for form throughout the tournament, hammered a 59-ball 76 and stabilized the innings. His partnership of 72 runs with Axar Patel and 47 runs with Shivam Dube helped the side reach a total of 176/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Later, India's bowling managed to restrict the Proteas to 169/8 and end their ICC trophy drought. After the match, Kohli and Rohit both announced their retirement from T20Is.
Rohit retired as the format’s highest run-scorer for India with 4,231 runs in 159 matches, including five centuries. Kohli finished close behind with 4,188 runs in 125 games. The duo’s retirement from T20Is was followed by them hanging up their boots from Test cricket in May 2025, within days of each other. Two of the modern-day greats will only focus now on the 50-over format and next feature in India's tour to Bangladesh in Ausgust this year.