Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid guided the Indian team to the T20 World Cup 2024 crown as the Men in Blue have now ended their ICC trophy drought. The 2007 T20 champions became the third team to win the 20-over title twice after beating South Africa in a heart-stopping final in Barbados on June 29.
The victory culminated the years of hard work these players have put in to bring a World title home. They were ever so close to winning the trophy in the 2023 ODI World Cup but fell short on the final hurdle to Australia and ended as runners-up.
After the World Cup, India head coach Rahul Dravid's tenure was set to end but then came a phone call from India captain Rohit Sharma, which changed things. During his final dressing room talk with the Indian team after the T20 World Cup 2024 win, Dravid had revealed that Rohit made him a call and asked to stay with the team.
During the team felicitation in Mumbai after the T20 World Cup win, Dravid has now touched upon the details of his phone call conversation with the Indian skipper. "I mean, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue after the 50-Over World Cup, and obviously, there was a great joy of having had a fantastic campaign but also a little bit of disappointment in the final that we could not get over the line," David said during the felicitation event at the Wankhede Stadium.
"For Rohit to pick up the phone and say, 'Rahul, let's have one more crack at it in six or eight months' time. It will be lovely to have a crack at it together'. I am so thankful because I had the chance to work with an exceptionally great bunch of boys. But also experience what I have experienced in Barbados and to experience what I have done here. Truly grateful and probably one of the best phone calls that I have received in my life," Dravid further added.
India under Dravid and Rohit took part in four ICC events. The first assignment was the T20 World Cup 2022, where the Men in Blue crashed out in the semifinals. The next was the World Test Championship 2023 final, where they ended as runners-up to Australia. The previous assignment was the ODI World Cup 2023, where they fell one step short of the elusive World Cup to Australia.
