It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Rohit again spoke about his frustration when asked about his mental state when he lay down on the field to celebrate the win. “I wanted it so much,” he said. “It’s very difficult to put it into words because at that moment, I don’t want to tell what I was thinking and what was going on in my mind, but it was a very emotional moment for me personally.
“I wish I was able to capture the moment myself but not really, you can’t do that but I will always remember it. Yes, these are the moments you wait for and then you don’t plan these things, it just happens because you are so desperate for certain things in life and I was so desperate for this in my life. I am so glad that we finally crossed the line this time.”
Rohit brought the trophy to the press conference. Since winning his first World Cup in 2007, he has come close to winning the World Cup several times. He missed out on selection at the last minute in 2011 and then went on to be a key part of India’s five knockout performances in six World Cups. The last defeat at the end of an unbeaten campaign at home hurt him the most.
“He has done a lot for Indian cricket when he played. In the last three years, he has worked hard with this team. He had to suppress his instincts on many occasions because it was not so easy for the boys to match his wavelength. So Rahul bhai suppressed himself. He learnt what the boys want. He gave it priority. Rahul bhai did that for the entire team. He tried to understand what the boys want, and what should be given to the boys. Because ultimately we have to do the job, Rahul bhai cannot go out to bat.
“For three years he has given clarity to the players about roles. Players who are not with the team have been in touch with him: telling him about the team, what is going on in the team, when they can come back, what their role will be when they come back. Rahul is a studious person. When he came in, the first thing he took care of was: we have to tell the players what we want from them.”
Rohit hinted at some mental differences ahead of the final but said as a captain he decided he should bat first. He has won four of his six IPL titles batting first. “I just believe in scoring runs in big matches,” he said. “That’s how my mind works. It’s not necessary that everyone in the team thinks the same way.
“But I have to make a decision and I have made it clear that no matter how the pitch is, we have to try and put runs on the board and then fight. You have talent in your bowling and I have seen what the players have done with the ball. So, I was confident that whatever score we have, we can try and defend it.”
“I know the result came in our favour, but even if the result didn’t come in our favour, I would have fully supported the decision to bat first. Although I thought the pitch was really good, the pitch was really good throughout the 40 overs. It didn’t grip the way we thought it would after the first half, with the sun beating down, there’s no grass on the pitch, it looked very dry. But obviously there would have been a lot of rolling and watering to make it nice and hard. But, yes, that was the thought and we were very clear with that decision as well, that we wanted to put runs on the board and try to defend it later.”
