Mumbai,aug 22
India’s T20 World Cup-winning skipper Rohit Sharma said that he is “not going to stop” from winning big trophies for his country after their latest accomplishment and thanked his “three pillars” for their support in his journey as a captain.Rohit and his men ended India’s 11-year ICC trophy drought as they defeated South Africa by seven runs in a thrilling final in June to capture their second ICC T20 World Cup title at Barbados.Speaking at the CEAT Cricket Awards, Rohit said that the team will keep pushing itself and “striving for better things”. “There is a reason I won five IPL trophies. I am not going to stop, because once you get the taste of winning games, and winning Cups, you do not want to stop and we will keep pushing as a team. We will keep striving for better things in the future,” said Rohit.Rohit said that the team has some big assignments coming up, like the tour to Australia for five Tests later this year, the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Test Championship final (if the team qualifies for the latter) next year in Pakistan and the UK.”We have got a couple of solid tours coming up, very challenging ones as well. For us, it never stops. Once you achieve something you always look forward to achieving more. That is what I will be doing. I am pretty sure my teammates will be thinking on the same line. What I have seen in the last two years in Indian cricket, there’s some real excitement, some real good cricket is being played,” he said.The Indian skipper said that it was his dream to transform his team into a unit with more freedom and less thought about statistics and milestones. He thanked his “three pillars”, former head coach Rahul Dravid, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah and chief selector Ajit Agarkar for their support.Virat Kohli took home the Men’s ODI Batter of the Year award, and Mohammad Shami was named the Men’s ODI Bowler of the Year.The Award for Most Matches as a Captain in Women’s T20I History was awarded to Harmanpreet Kaur, while Yashashvi Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin were honoured as the Men’s Test Batter of the Year and Men’s Test Bowler of the Year, respectively. On the women’s side, Deepti Sharma was named the Women’s Indian Bowler of the Year, and Smriti Mandhana earned the title of Women’s Indian Batter of the Year.The Award for the Fastest Double Century in Women’s Test went to Shafali Verma, while Jay Shah was recognized with the Award for Excellence in Sports Administration for their significant contributions to the sport. For his glorious contribution to the world of cricket, Rahul Dravid was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
