India captain Rohit Sharma, on Wednesday, paid a special tribute to the "three pillars", whom he credited as the true reason behind India's success in the T20 World Cup title win last month. Rohit, however, fired a warning to world cricket, admitting that he is determined to emulate the same result in the Champions Trophy and World Test championship final next year.

On June 29, Rohit became the first captain in 17 years after MS Dhoni to lead India to their second T20 World Cup title win. It was also India's first ICC trophy in 11 years and a maiden world title in 13 years. On Wednesday, after Rohit was named the men’s international cricketer of the year at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai, he credited former head coach Rahul Dravid, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar and BCCI secretary Jay Shah for India's successful comeback from the heartbreaking loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final at home to a T20 World Cup trophy haul.

“It was my dream to transform this team and not worry too much about the stats, the results, to make sure that we create that environment where people can go out there and play freely without thinking too much,” Rohit said. “That is what was required. I got a lot of help from my three pillars, who are actually Mr Jay Shah, Mr Rahul Dravid (and the) chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar. That was very critical for me to do what I did and obviously not to forget the players, who came in at different points in time and helped the team to achieve what we achieved."

'There is a reason I won five IPL trophies'

With India having turned to their focus on ODI cricket for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next year and a third-straight WTC final, both slated to happen in 2025, Rohit admitted that his hunger to add more trophies to his cabinet remains insatiable.

“There is a reason I won five IPL trophies. I'm not going to stop, because once you get the taste of winning games, winning Cups, you don't want to stop and we'll keep pushing as a team. We'll keep striving for better things in the future,” he said.

India kicked off their preparation for the Champions Trophy on a worrying note as India succumbed to a humiliating 0-2 loss against Sri Lanka earlier this year, which was new head coach Gautam Gambhir's first assignment in the format. India will play their next and final ODI series before the ICC tournament in the opening week of February in 2025 against England at home.

In Tests, India have a long schedule awaiting them. Starting September 19, the side will play 10 Tests - five at home against Bangladesh (two matches) and New Zealand (three matches), and five in December in the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia. If India, current table-toppers in WTC, can maintain their home dominance to script a 5-0 winning streak across the series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, they will guarantee their spot in the final irrespective of their result against Australia.

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