India finally ended their ICC trophy drought with a heart-stopping come-from-behind win against South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. The Men in Blue clinched the nerve-racking contest, which had gone out of their reach for once, by seven runs to become the champions of T20s for the second time.
After the winning moment when Hardik Pandya successfully defended 16 off the final over, there was no stoppage of the emotions flowing. The Indian players were in tears, including captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik and many more.
Once the lifting of the trophy moment arrived, Rohit first recreated Lionel Messi's FIFA World Cup win celebration before handing over the title to his teammates. Rahul Dravid also got his hands on the trophy, that always eluded him as a player.
In a rare reaction, Dravid, who now ends his stint with the Indian team, vented his agony out and let the emotions take full control of him. He yelled after lifting the trophy as if to shut down all his previous pains of not winning a title. His reaction emphasised the importance of this trophy for him and the team even more as anyone hardly sees him that excited.
Watch Dravid's epic reaction:
With this tournament, Dravid's two-and-a-half-year tenure as India's head coach came to an end. He guided the Men in Blue to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2022, before helping them reach the finals of the World Test Championship 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023 apart from the T20 World Cup 2024. This was his last chance to win a title with the team in his current stint. Dravid had never won a World Cup trophy as a player and this one felt special for the ice-cool man.
During the celebrations, the team members also lifted Dravid to give him tribute for his work towards the team. Now India will have a new head coach for future assignments.
