A video Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma with the World Cup trophy and the tricolour is making waves as a defining moment for the Indian cricket stars.
When the Indian stars ended their T20 journey by lifting the T20 World Cup, it was the first time that they were part of a winning Indian team. Virat Kohli was not a part of the Indian team which lifted the T20 World Cup trophy in 2007 held in South Africa. And Rohit Sharma was left out of the team in the 2011 Cup co-hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Finally, the wait ended on Saturday when India won against South Africa in the T20 World Cup finals by 8 runs at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies.
Kohli and Sharma were seen savouring the historic moment after the victory as they lifted the trophy while holding the Indian flag. Kohli opened up on the moment captured in a video shared by Star Sports. He said that he had told Rohit to hold the trophy for some time.
“It was a very special thing for him [Rohit] as well. His family is here, Samaira [Rohit’s daughter] was on his shoulder. But I just felt like in the victory, lap he was behind the whole time. I told him, you also hold the trophy for a while, for two minutes. We should take a picture together because this journey has been very long.”
The cricketer shared his journey with Indian team over the years, where their focus always remained on growth of the team despite reversing roles between them as skipper, Virat said.
“Me and him have been playing together for so many years and just trying our level best to make sure that this happens for India. Captain leader, leader captain, we have just worked for only one thing – that’s Indian cricket. That picture was a dedication to Indian cricket,” he said in an interview with Star Sports.
The 35-year-old cricketer announced his retirement from T20 Innings during his speech after winning the Player of the Match award. Kohli scored 76 runs off 59 balls. Captain Rohit Sharma also declared his retirement from T20 cricket in the post-match press conference. Rohit is the highest run scorer in T20 Internationals with 4,231 runs and Kohli is a close second with 4188 runs.