India won the T20 World Cup 2024 yesterday in Barbados by defeating South Africa in the final. As Rohit Sharma walked to his men before lifting the trophy, the manner reminded WWE champion Ric Flair of how he used to walk towards the ring.
The Indian skipper had decided to celebrate just as Lionel Messi had done after Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup on the suggestion of Kuldeep Yadav. Still, Flair felt Rohit was mimicking the WWE champion.
Flair took to his X account (formerly Twitter) and shared the video of Rohit joining his players to lift the trophy and captioned it with his catchphrase as well, “Taking A Page Out Of My Playbook! WOOOOO!”
Any celebration of the Indian skipper and his team is justifiable as the side lifted their first ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy which the country won under the leadership of MS Dhoni.
Electing to bat first, India had posted a target of 177. The team could have collapsed as three of their batters fell early including the skipper but Virat Kohli remained steadfast and added 76 runs of 59 deliveries to the total in what turned out to be the last T20I appearance of his career.
The final of the T20 World Cup 2024, however, was won for India by the Indian bowlers who restricted the South African batters to 169 as India won the final by seven runs.
For India, this was their third T20 World Cup final appearance. Their first was back in 2007, the inaugural edition of the event and they won it by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final.
Their second final resulted in India’s loss in 2014 as Sri Lanka beat them to lift the trophy.
Rohit has also become the second oldest captain to win the World Cup at the age of 37 years and 60 days. Former captain of Pakistan, Imran Khan sits at the top as he was 39 years and 172 days when Pakistan won the 1992 Cricket World Cup in his captaincy.