“I was panicking, I wasn’t comfortable” - Rohit Sharma reveals how Virat Kohli helped him to settle his nerves in T20 World Cup 2024 Final

Former Indian T20I captain Rohit Sharma has revealed that the talismanic batter Virat Kohli helped him to settle his nerves in the dressing room after his team lost three early wickets in the T20 World Cup 2024 grand finale against South Africa.

Notably, India, after winning the toss and electing to bat first, lost their skipper Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav fell early in the innings to leave the side at 34/3 in the powerplay overs.

Though Kohli, who struggled throughout the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and the West Indies, lived up to the expectations in the grand finale, scoring an exceptional 76-run knock off 59 balls. 

“If you hit three boundaries in the first over, then you’ve started well. That’s what every cricketer wants. The experience of playing for India for so many years helps. You can control your emotions, control your thoughts, and stay in the moment,” Rohit told JioCinema on Virat Kohli’s knock.

“I’m sure he was thinking the same: ‘Today is the day I need to be focused.’ Not worrying about what happened before. And he played a brilliant innings, a fantastic partnership with Axar. After losing those three wickets up front, there were obviously a lot of nerves in the dressing room,” he added.

“I was panicking. I wasn’t comfortable. I thought we’d let them into the game. Of course, in the back of my mind, I always believed our lower middle order, although it hadn’t batted much during the tournament, had made an impact whenever given the opportunity,” he stated.

Also, Axar Patel, the all-rounder, played an exceptional role in the middle-order, scoring 47 runs in 31 balls with one four and four sixes at a strike rate of 151.61. Rohit also hailed Axar’s knock, which turned out to be the game-changer.

“Not many people are talking about Axar’s knock, but it was the game-changer. Scoring 47 off 31 at that stage was vital. And we needed one player to bat through the innings—Virat did that brilliantly.

While India posted 176/7 in 20 overs, South Africa could score only 169/8 in 20 overs, losing the game by seven runs after being in control for the major part of the game.

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