Ex-Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan broke into tears after Rohit Sharma's men broke the 11-year ICC title drought by clinching the T20 World Cup 2024 on Saturday in Barbados. In a video surfaced on social media, Pathan's eyes were seen welling as he described it as happy tears and said, 'Love you, Team India'.
Team India, led by Rohit Sharma, had their backs to the wall when South Africa needed only 30 runs off as many deliveries to win the final. However, the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah helped their side stage a remarkable comeback. It all came down to 16 requiring off the final over, all the Proteas could manage was 9 runs.
Pathan, who was part of India's victory in 2007 T20 World Cup, said:
"Yeh pichle 10 din, bahut mushkil din rahe hain mere liye. Toh yeh jo aansu hain na dukh ke aansu nahin hain, khushi ke aansu hain. So, love you Team India, bahut bahut shukriya."
(The last 10 days have been extremely difficult for me. These tears are out of happiness and not out of sadness. Love you Team India and thank you very much.)
"It's very hard to put it in words" - Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma, who retired from T20Is following the win, revealed that he needed the win badly after years of heartbreak and stated that he will forever remember this moment.
"I wanted this badly. It's very hard to put it in words because that moment, I don't want to say what I was thinking and what was going in my mind, but it was a very emotional moment personally for me. I wish I could capture that moment myself but not really, you can't do that but I will always remember that."
In the process, Team India also became the first side to lift the T20 World Cup trophy without losing a game. Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah won the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards, respectively.
