NEVER SEEN ROHIT SHARMA SO EMOTIONAL IN 15 YEARS LIKE HE WAS AFTER THE FINAL: VIRAT KOHLI

MUMBAI: This was a victory party India's 2024 T20 World Cup winning team won't forget in their lifetime. For a Wankhede Stadium which has staged India's World Cup-winning celebrations in 2007 and 2011, the 2024 edition was truly special.

There was a sea of people on Thursday on the one kilometer stretch on the Marine Drive between the Nariman Point and the Wankhede Stadium to witness the historic moment when India's T20 World Champions enjoyed an open top bus parade.

Once Team India trooped into the Wankhede, with the players breaking into a jig to continue the celebrations, there was a sea of emotions, as the first skipper Rohit Sharma, outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid, star bat Virat Kohli, and then Jasprit Bumrah left the approximately 30,000-strong fans, waiting patiently since 4pm and having endured a sharp shower, teary-eyed with their words.

'Home boy,' skipper Rohit Sharma, addressing the fans, said: "On behalf of my team and the BCCI, I would like to thank the fans. Ever since we have reached India, we have seen how much it means to them. For the last 11 years, they have wanted the trophy back in India. As much desperation we had to win the trophy, the fans had it a bit more. This team is special, and I am lucky to have the chance to captain this unit."

India batting great Dravid said, "This is a fantastic note to sign off on. I am going to miss all this love. What we have been seeing today and what I have heard since the win shows how India makes cricket brilliant."

Opening-up about the sight of him hugging Rohit moments after India crossed the line Kohli said that he had never seen Rohit so emotional. "This is the first time in 15 years that I have seen Rohit show so much emotion. When we were climbing those steps (at Kensington Oval) he was crying and I was crying, When I was walking up the steps, we both were crying. For me, that's a very special memory from that day," he said.

Just after the tournament was over, Rohit, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their T20I retirements. "I hope we (Rohit and I) have carried the burden and no better to bring it (trophy) back here (Wankhede). Halfway through the game (final), I knew it was time and let the next generation take over," Kohli said.

Kohli revealed that as a young member of the 2011 World Cup-winning team, he "couldn't connect with the emotions of the senior players at that time."

"When we won the World Cup back in 2011, I could not connect with the emotions of the senior players. I could not understand why they were crying. For me, it felt like, 'yeah, we have won the World Cup and that was a fact'. I was 22, but now, it's a different feeling," he said.

Years of slog to win a T20 World Cup, though, taught him the value of a title. "Now being at this position, (I understand what it means). Not just me, Rohit has played for so long, and we both have been trying hard for this for so long. When I was the captain, he was a senior player; now he is the captain, I am a senior player, and our only aim was to win India a World Cup," Kohli said.

Heralded by Kohli as the one man who played a massive role in India's World Cup victory, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who took 15 wickets in eight matches, revealed that he broke down with emotions after he saw his son Angad crying after India's victory. "This ground is really special in my life. As an under-19 kid, I came here to play cricket and what I saw today, I will never forget that. The confidence that we have to take the game by the neck and pull us out of trouble is special. Our aim is to take Indian cricket forward."

One of the most emotional moments of India's victory celebration was triggered by India's star allrounder Hardik Pandya, who, just before boarding the team's victory parade bus, posted on 'X': "See you soon, Wankhede," with a smile emoji.

A few months back in the IPL, when he was captaining Mumbai Indians, the Wankhede crowd had constantly booed Pandya, after he replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain for this season. However, on Thursday, the packed Wankhede cheered him on.