Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli weep in each other’s arms after World Cup dream fulfilled, lift Rahul Dravid in gratitude

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the two modern-day icons of the game, the only players in India’s squad for this tournament, who knew what a World Cup win tastes like and yet were more desperate than anybody else to lay their hands on another world title, were a bundle of emotions.

Together, they have seen it all. They have been the architects of shaping India as one of the strongest-ever white-ball sides. They have rewritten record books for the next generation to behold. Despite this, they also had to deal with choking in the knockouts.

On Saturday, in their third ICC event final in less than 13 months, they did not hold back when the result finally landed in their favour.

Rohit was seen punching the ground multiple times while Kohli had his hands up in the air when India beat South Africa by seven runs in a final that had numerous ebbs and flows.

It did not take much longer for them to come together. Their first embrace was on the pitch side. The second and more emotional one was on the sidelines. That is when they wept, holding each other. It was as if more than 15 years of playing together culminated into one moment. Time stood still.

Who would have guessed that both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would announce their retirements from T20Is moments later? Or maybe everyone did know? It was not too hard to predict after what they had gone through all these years.

“It is time for the new generation to come through for India,” Kohli said. “We have some amazing players coming through, and they have to take this team forward now,” he said after scoring 76 off 59 balls that earned him a record 16th Player of the Match award.

Rohit and Kohli even posed for photos with the Indian flag in the backdrop and the World Cup trophy in one hand.

Their next assignment was to show gratitude to Rahul Dravid. May be not as dramatic an announcement like them but it was also Dravid’s last match as the head coach of Team India.

Kohli took the trophy and handed it over to Dravid, who held it up in the air and screamed as his life depended on the decibels he could reach.

If that was not enough, Kohli insisted his teammates to carry Dravid on their shoulders. The first hand he got was of Rohit’s. The duo picked up the former captain and now a former coach and juggled him.

“What he has done for Indian cricket for the past 20, 25 years, this was the only thing left. I am very happy on behalf of the entire team that we could do this for him,” Rohit said.