Rohit Sharma eats soil in Djokovic-like celebrations after T20 World Cup triumph

India skipper Rohit Sharma ate soil from the pitch in a tennis legend Novak Djokovic-like celebration after the crushing victory against South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final in Barbados.

The triumph in Barbados saw India defeat South Africa in the final. It was India’s second T20 World Cup title.

Just after securing the title, the India skipper Rohit patted multiple times on the ground and was also seen eating the soil of Kensington Oval’s pitch later as Indian players continued their celebrations on the ground.

The official ‘X’ account of Wimbledon shared pictures of Rohit and Novak Djokovic in similar action, drawing similarity between the two greats of their respective sports.

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Rohit announced his decision during a press conference following the match, just hours after his teammate Virat Kohli’s similar announcement.

Rohit Sharma said, “This was my last [T20I] game as well. No better time to say goodbye to this format. I’ve loved every moment of this. I started my India career playing this format. This is what I wanted, I wanted to win the cup.”

Expressing his emotions, Rohit Sharma added, “I wanted this badly. Very hard to put in words. It was a very emotional moment for me. I was very desperate for this title in my life. Happy that we eventually crossed the line.”

Rohit’s T20 international career has been illustrious, leaving as the format’s highest scorer with 4,231 runs in 159 matches. He also holds the record for the most centuries (five) in T20 internationals. His journey includes two T20 World Cup titles, the first as a player in 2007 and now as captain in 2024.

The retirements of both Rohit Sharma and Kohli were anticipated, as none of them had played any T20Is following India’s semi-final defeat in the 2022 T20 World Cup. They returned to the T20I format in January this year with the aim of focusing on the 2024 T20 World Cup.