Rohit Sharma ( India ) Press Conference After India vs South Africa Final ICC T20 World Cup 2024
Rohit Sharma ( India ) Press Conference After India vs South Africa Final ICC T20 World Cup 2024
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00:00Roy, if you are asked one factor that led to the emergence of the champions, what would
00:10be and also how was it to gift this victory to Rahul Dravid?
00:17He more than any one of us, I think he deserved that trophy.
00:23What he has done for Indian cricket for the past 20-25 years, I think this was the only
00:31thing that was left in his cabinet and I am very happy from all of us on behalf of the
00:37entire team that we could actually do this for him.
00:43You saw how proud he was and how excited he was and really grateful to the occasion for
00:51this to happen as well.
00:55In a game like this, there are a lot of turnarounds.
00:59I actually cannot single out one or two aspects of the game.
01:05But looking at where the game was when four or five overs were left, obviously that wicket
01:12of Klasen when Hardik took that wicket, that was actually very crucial from our point of
01:20view.
01:21And then again, Miller's wicket at the back in the last over, that catch of Surya of Hardik's
01:27bowling was again superb.
01:30But again you can't forget what the batters did with the bat, Virat getting that runs,
01:36Aksar playing that part and then eventually us finishing off with the score that we finished
01:42and then obviously when we started with the ball, Bumrah, Arshdeep were superb.
01:49So I don't know how much I can talk about Bumrah.
01:53Obviously we've been seeing this with him for such a long time now, whenever he has
02:00ball in hands, he tends to create magic for us every time.
02:04So yeah, I'm very lucky to have players like this in my squad, players who are playing
02:09for me and Team India, really, really grateful and thankful as well.
02:15Rohit, congratulations and you have had so many moments of glory in your career and disappointments
02:23also, 2007 and 2008 CB series, 2013 and Australia Test series, of course 2011 you could not
02:31be part of the World Cup and of course Ahmedabad, looking back all these things, do you consider
02:37this as the greatest moment of your career?
02:40And second, of 30 balls and 6 wickets, how could you motivate the players to pull it off?
02:53This has to be the greatest time, I can say that, because it's only because how desperately
03:04I wanted to win this.
03:07So all the runs, all the runs that I've scored in all these years, I think it does matter,
03:16but I'm not a big on stats and all of that.
03:21I think winning games for India, winning trophies for India, that is what I look forward to
03:25all the time and having this now right besides me probably has to be, I don't know honestly,
03:35I don't know if it's the greatest or what, but it is definitely one of the greatest,
03:39I can say that.
03:44And when I have to look back at certain moments in the game as well, they were really playing
03:52well halfway through the stage, we were very much in the game and then the next five overs
03:57didn't go our way.
03:59Klassen and Miller actually took it on, De Kock played his part as well, but we know
04:05what they are capable of with the bat, we do understand that, but again, the message
04:11was very loud and clear to everyone that until the last ball of the game is bowled, the game
04:17is not over, because that's what happens in cricket and you've got to believe that, and
04:23my job as a captain is to make everyone believe that.
04:27Every time we had ball in hand, whether we got wickets or we didn't get wickets, we wanted
04:34to keep fighting, keep fighting whether we are ahead in the game or whether we are behind
04:40in the game, we wanted to keep fighting because the moments like this will never come again,
04:45this is the final, so you have to give everything that you have inside your body, mind and everything,
04:51and that is what the message was to everyone that let everything out, put whatever you
04:56have in your body, mind, put it in front of us, and let's see then what happens, and
05:03I thought the belief that everyone had till the last ball was bowled was to keep fighting,
05:10even though we were behind in the game after 15 overs when they required just 30 odd runs
05:16in 5 or 4 overs, the belief was still there, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight, and
05:22then eventually we managed to cross the line.
05:27Rohit, since coming to the West Indies, India has batted first in all previous games coming
05:32into the final, so was that like a templated thing or you thought the conditions deserved
05:35that or did you think scoreboard pressure mattered in the final or did all of this contribute
05:39to batting first here also?
05:42I think I'm a believer of just having runs on the board in big games, that's how my mind
05:50works, it is not necessary that everyone thinks like that in the team, but I have a
05:58decision to make and I made it very clear that no matter how the pitch is, whatever
06:04it is, we have to try and put runs on the board and then fight it out.
06:07You have the talent in your bowling and I've seen what the guys have done with the ball,
06:13so I had that confidence that whatever score we have, we can try and defend it and that's
06:23exactly what happened as well.
06:25I know the result came in our favour but even though if the result didn't come in our favour,
06:31I would have still completely backed the decision of batting first, although I thought the pitch
06:36really played well, throughout the 40 overs the pitch was really good, it didn't grip
06:42as such which we really thought it would after the first half, with the sun beating
06:49down so hard, there's no grass on the pitch, it looks a lot drier, but obviously a lot
06:57of rolling water must have gone in there to make it nice and hard, but that was the thought.