Indian captain Rohit Sharma, a darling of the Wankhede crowd, was all praise of his deputy Hardik Pandya. The all-rounder bowled the final over against South Africa in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and Sharma on Thursday was in a loss of words to hail his efforts.
During the felicitation event at the Wankhede Stadium after a trophy parade in an open-top bus, Rohit Sharma thanked the fans for their love before hailing Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav for pulling an "exceptional catch" that dismissed David Miller. The Wankhede crowd, the infamously bood Hardik during the IPL season, chanted his name as "Hitman" and talked about him in complete admiration.
In case you missed Indian captain Rohit Sharma's interaction with Gaurav Kapoor after the victory parade's culmination, here are five salient points that he mentioned at the Wankhede.
1. "We've got a solid reception... The entire BCCI I would like to thank the entire nation -- the people who support the game watch the game... Since the time we have come to India, it has been wonderful. The reception we got here tells you the kind of enthusiasm, the kind of waiting people had... So this trophy means so much to us but it is for the entire nation..."
2. "...For me, every World Cup win is a very very special moment. So I would like to leave where 2007 was right there because it was very very special. It was the inaugural T20 World Cup. We won it and we showed the world this is how you win the T20 World Cup. "
3. "I was standing at long on Surya was at long off. And obviously, Hardik was bowling that crucial over for us. Hats off to him. No matter how many runs you need, there is almost always pressure to bowl that over. Hats off to him...
"There was a lot of technical aspect of the game that we discussed in that last over because the wind was blowing the ground very quite heavily and we had a brief chant about what we wanted to do. Because we all know David Miller can be a very dangerous player and he has played that role to perfection in most of the time. Um, so we wanted to keep it away from him.
"You know, then Hardik bowled that ball and then when it went up in the air. Obviously, for a moment, I thought because he hit with the wind. So I thought it may go.. But it was written everything was written so I'm glad that You know, it didn't carry to the ground so much and for Surya to take that catch was exceptional."
4. "He practiced during training so much and we know when the pressure is there and those caches need to be taken. You can remember all those things you have done in your training And that is what Surya did... to take that catch right on the boundary was a great effort."
5. "I think I am very very proud of this team. I am very lucky to have a team like this. At any given point in time, I want to stand up and get the job done for the team. But then again, there are so many people sitting over there... it will be very unfair to name a few individuals. It is the entire squad and support staff (responsible for lifting the World Cup without losing a single game)"