‘Often seen in football match…’: Rohit Sharma reveals origin of his T20 WC 2024 trophy celebration

NEW DELHI: India’s T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy winning skipper and star batter Rohit Sharma opened up on his celebration after winning the T20 WC title back in 2024, saying that he had watched the celebration in a football match and decided to try it out and “it came naturally to him”.

Rohit ended India’s 11-year trophy drought. After the heartbreak of losing the 50-over World Cup final to Australia at Ahmedabad after a 10-match win streak during the 2023 edition of 50-over World Cup, the ‘Hitman’ lifted the sorrow and burden experienced by cricketers and fans alike over more than a decade by leading the team from the front to a T20 WC title, beating South Africa in a thriller by seven runs.

It was performances from Virat Kohli (76), Hardik Pandya (3/20), Jasprit Bumrah (2/18) and Arshdeep Singh (2/20) which played a massive role in the triumph at Barbados.

Receiving the trophy on the podium from now ICC chairman, Jay Shah, Rohit walked slowly and in a robotic manner towards the trophy before receiving it and lifting it high with joy.

Rohit, now an ambassador for the upcoming T20 World Cup, speaking to the ICC, said that before the ceremony, teammates suggested different types of celebrations, but Rohit wanted to “live the beautiful moment” with a celebration that came to him naturally.

“Yeah, there were a lot of talks before, you know, that ceremony happened. The guys were telling me, You should do this, you should walk like this, you should do that. I said, Please move aside. I am just going to do what comes to me naturally. I don’t want to risk for going and collecting the trophy. It’s a beautiful moment, and I want to live it. And what I did was just naturally what came to me. You know, it is a celebration that I have often seen in a football match. And I quite liked it,” he said.

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Rohit said he even used that celebration during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, when he cracked five centuries, but the cameras missed it.

“It is something I did in the 2019 World Cup also. Nobody noticed it, but I did it in the 2019 World Cup, also when I took a catch in the slip. But usually, when you take a wicket, the camera pans onto a bowler or a batter who got out, not the fielder who has taken a catch. It was a beautiful catch that I took in the slips. Unfortunately, the camera was not on me. But that is when I did it,” he recalled.

“It was just a couple of days before that game. I was watching a football game, and I loved the celebration. I was like, oh, it is pretty cool. Maybe I will try it someday,” he added.

Rohit will now be seen in action during the three-match ODI series against New Zealand from January 11 onwards. (ANI)