Rohit Sharma ends India’s ICC title drought, sums up legacy with ‘desperately wanted to win’ claim after IND vs SA final

It was the perfect farewell for Rohit Sharma as he followed Virat Kohli's footsteps and decided to announce his retirement from T20Is after India's T20 World Cup final victory against South Africa. Having captained India in three successive ICC trophy finals, the MI opener finally was able to clinch his first title as skipper. This was also India’s first ICC title since 2013, when they won the Champions Trophy.

Speaking after the match, Rohit said, "This was my last [T20I] game as well. No better time to say goodbye to this format. I've loved every moment of this. I started my India career playing this format. This is what I wanted, I wanted to win the cup."

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"I wanted this badly. Very hard to put in words. It was a very emotional moment for me. I was very desperate for this title in my life. Happy that we eventually crossed the line."

The swashbuckling opener made his T20I debut in the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup against England, and went on to play in 159 T20Is, registering 4231 runs and is also the highest run-scorer in the format for this country. He slammed five tons, a career-best 121* vs Afghanistan earlier this year, and has also bagged 32 fifties.

He is also the most successful T20I captain with 50 wins (including Super Over/bowl-out wins), which is also two more than Pakistan's Babar Azam.

In the final in Bridgetown, the 37-year-old failed to replicate his form and was dismissed for nine off five balls. But this time, it was Virat Kohli, who took the responsibility, hammering 76 off 59 balls as India posted 176/7 in 20 overs. Chasing 177, the Proteas could only reach 169/8 in 20 overs, losing by seven runs.

Despite failing to score runs in the final, Rohit was key to India's run to the finals, especially when Kohli wasn't firing. In the semi-final against England, the Mumbai cricketer registered 57 off 39 balls and his tournament high score was a 41-ball 92-run knock against Australia in the Super 8 stage.

When asked if the T20 World Cup final win was the best moment of his career, Rohit said, "This has to be the greatest time. I can say that. It's only because of how desperately I wanted to win this. All the runs that I've scored in all these years, it does matter but I'm not big on stats and all of that."

"Winning games for India, winning trophies for India - that is what I look forward to all the time," he further added.