Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma shared a heartwarming embrace with the Indian skipper planting a kiss on Pandya’s cheek after India won the T20 World Cup for the second time in their history, ending an 11-year-old ICC trophy drought.
“It means a lot. Very emotional, we’ve been working very hard and something was not clicking. But today we got what the whole nation wanted. Special for me after my six months, I haven’t spoken a word, things have been unfair, but I knew there’d be a time I could shine. An opportunity like this makes it all the more special,” Pandya reacted after the match.
The ‘unfair’ comment came after Pandya’s tumultuous few months in the Indian Premier League when he was booed relentlessly when he replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Mumbai Indians franchise after getting traded in from Gujarat Titans.
Pandya also heaped praises on outgoing coach Rahul Dravid whose tenure comes to an end after this tournament. “Very happy for him, he’s been a wonderful man, really enjoyed working with him, to give him a farewell like this is wonderful, have had a very good relationship with him and became friends. Very happy for all the support staff,” the allrounder said.
After the World Cup win, In the post-match chat, Rohit lauded his Indian team vice captain saying that the allrounder was ‘brilliant as well, bowling that last over.’
In the match, India stunned South Africa to clinch their second ICC T20 World Cup title with a seven-run win at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.
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