Hyderabad: India led by skipper Rohit Sharma won the T20 World Cup 2024 by defeating South Africa in an edge-of-the-seat thriller summit clash in Barbados on June 29 and Rohit's childhood coach Dinesh Lad feels it is the biggest Gurudakshina his ward has given him.
It was under Dinesh Lad that Rohit, who hails from Mumbai, learned his first cricketing lessons in the megacity. An elated Dinesh Lad told ETV Bharat on Sunday, "One poor child if he focuses on the game, can go miles and a prime example of it is Rohit Sharma. He has given me the biggest Gurudakshina by leading the team which won the T20 World Cup."
For the record, it was Rohit's second T20 World Cup win after he had won the inaugural edition of the marquee tournament in 2007.
"Right now I am the richest man in the world," quipped Lad, who resides in Mumbai and is a known name in Mumbai's cricketing circles.
Dinesh Lad also backed Rohit's decision to retire from the shortest format of the game saying the skipper can now focus on the other two formats - the ODIs and Tests.
"It is a good decision and it has come at a perfect time. So that he can focus on the ODI Champions Trophy (to be played in 2025) and the World Test Championship," added Lad.
Lad also recalled how one of his advice turned Rohit's career after the snub of the 2011 ODI World Cup.
"When he was snubbed for the 2011 World Cup, he had come to meet me. Back then, I advised him to give an adequate time for cricket. That time he promised me that he would focus on the game and give adequate time. Since then he has not looked back and his graph has been on the rise," recalled Lad, who is also the coach of India all-rounder Shardul Thakur.
India ended the drought for an ICC Trophy after 11 years and the final will be etched in the memory of cricket fans for ages.
