Rohit Sharma's Special Mention For Rahul Dravid On ICC Titles, But A Snub For Gautam Gambhir

Former India captain Rohit Sharma opened up on the team's T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 triumphs. After suffering a heartbreak in the final of ODI World Cup 2023 at home, India, under the leadership of Rohit, bounced back to win the next two major ICC titles. The star batter admitted that despite the loss to Australia in the final in Ahmedabad, the process and mindset were carried forward by him and the then head coach Rahul Dravid. India's win over South Africa in the T20 World Cup final was Dravid's last game in charge of the team, with Gautam Gambhir taking charge as head coach days later. 

"Look, I love that team, loved playing with them and it's a journey that we were all into, for many years. It's not about one year or two years of work. It was about getting into work from many years. We'd come so close to winning that trophy many times, but we couldn't just get over the line. That is where everyone decided that we need to do something different and there's two (ways) to look at it," Rohit said on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards.

However, Rohit made no mention of Gambhir while reflecting on the Champions Trophy triumph earlier this year. He insisted that the players who were part of the Champions Trophy squad adopted a new thought process focused on getting the job and not being complacent.

"All the guys who took part in that competition (Champions Trophy) got into that thought process of how to win games and how to challenge ourselves and not be complacent and not to take anything for granted. Those were the qualities that we tried to bring in and we thought it was a good method of just going and doing that repeatedly. Everyone enjoyed that process. Once we got over the line when we won the first game, we completely put that game aside and then started focusing on the next one," he added.

The 38-year-old suggested that both the triumphs embodied the values instilled by Dravid in the team.

"That was really good from the team and that is something that helped me and Rahul bhai when we were planning for the (2024) T20 World Cup, and then on to the Champions Trophy. We just carried it well. In 2023, although we didn't cross the line in the finals, we set out to do something as a team and everyone did that," Rohit concluded.

Rohit was recently sacked as ODI captain by the BCCI, with Shubman Gill replacing him at the helm.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Rohit Sharma Rahul Dravid Gautam Gambhir Cricket