There were two telling visuals of Rohit Sharma after India won the T20 World Cup, beating South Africa by seven runs in a cracker of a final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. There were many, to be honest. But these two stand out. When Anrich Nortje slogged the last ball of the match to deep mid-wicket for a single, Rohit lay flat on the ground and pounded it several times. It was his way of letting the world know that his and India's wait of 13 years had finally ended. They were the world champions for the first time since 2011. They came so close many times but could not cross the final hurdles but not on June 29 2024.

Hugs, tears, screams, pats and dance moves followed. After doing all this with his teammates and the support staff, Rohit quietly walked towards the centre of the pitch, plucked a piece from it and put it in his mouth. It felt so good that he did it again, as if the soil tasted better than any Mumbai Vada Pav would.

A couple of days later, Rohit revealed the reason behind the act made famous by tennis legend Novak Djokovic. Rohit said he wanted to keep a part of the pitch with him.

"You know... I was feeling the moment when I went to the pitch because that pitch gave us this. We played on that particular pitch and we won the game, that particular ground as well. I will remember that ground forever in my life and that pitch as well. So I wanted to have a piece of it with me. So yeah, those moments are very, very special. And the place where all our dreams came true, I wanted something of it. That was the feeling behind it," he said in a video posted by BCCI on Tuesday.

When asked about his other celebrations, Rohit said they were all spontaneous and had no particular reason. "See, those things are actually not... I do not think I can describe that because nothing was scripted. It was... It was all... You know, whatever was coming instinctively," he said.

Rohit played a pivotal role with the bat and as captain in bringing an end to India's long wait for an ICC title. This was his third ICC final in less than 13 months and the man from Mumbai finally found luck in the third time.

"Yeah, the feeling actually is surreal. I would still say it has not sunk in totally. It has been a great moment," Rohit, who became only the third Indian captain after Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni to win a World Cup, said.

"Right from when the game got over till now, it feels like a dream. We still feel that it has not happened. Although it has happened, but it feels like it has not happened. That is the emotion, that's the feeling that you have. We have dreamt about this for such a long period of time. We worked hard as a unit for such a long period of time and to see this now with us feels quite, you know, relieved as well because when you work hard for something and you eventually get it at the end, it feels nice. Last night, I mean, We were having a good time," said Rohit.

Rohit yet to sleep properly but India captain doesn't mind

"We had a blast with the teammates till very early morning. So again, I would say I did not sleep properly. But that is absolutely fine by me. You know, not to have sleep after a day like that, I am totally fine. There is a lot of time for me to go back home and sleep. So I am going to catch up on that. But again, like I said, this moment was very, very special for all of us. And I want to live it. I want to live each moment, each second, each minute that is passing by. I want to make the most of it."

Rohit, who ended as the second-highest run-getter of a low-scoring tournament, announced his retirement from T20Is after the World Cup triumph. Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were the other two stalwarts of white-ball cricket to draw curtains on their T20I careers after the World Cup success.

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