Those five overs in the [T20 World Cup] final encapsulated Rohit: Rahul Dravid

Between Ahmedabad 2023 and Bridgetown 2024, India’s fortunes in limited-overs cricket went through a roller-coaster.

If an inspired Australian team ensured that India’s mesmerising run at home in the ODI World Cup did not have a sweet ending, the nation experienced ecstasy when it snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final.

Two men were central to this – the legendary Rahul Dravid as coach and Rohit Sharma as captain. A third, senior journalist R. Kaushik, chronicled both, with his book The Rise of the Hitman: The Rohit Sharma Story containing vivid accounts of both campaigns.

And Tuesday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was about celebrating Rohit, with Dravid in conversation with Kaushik, and former India pacer and Karnataka State Cricket Association president Venkatesh Prasad joining in via video-conferencing.

“Those five overs in the [T20 World Cup] final encapsulated Rohit,” Dravid said. “He showed great tactical nous in realising that the game was slipping away – South Africa was 151 for four chasing 177 – and he had to bring the likes of [Jasprit] Bumrah back.

“There was great camaraderie on display with players ready to fight until the end. It was a tribute to all the work we had put in and it was really a culmination of everything.”

Crediting Rohit for catalysing India’s dynamic approach in white-ball cricket, Dravid doffed his hat to his man-management skills. “Rohit loved being one of the guys. But he also balanced being the leader well. That is some real skill.”

Dravid also revealed, in rich detail, how Rohit had lifted everybody’s mood – including the usually sage-like Dravid’s – in the aftermath of the stinging defeat in the opening Test versus England in Hyderabad in January 2024.

Kaushik, with decades-long experience of covering the sport, sought to highlight the facet that made the Dravid-Rohit combination effective.

“Rohit and Dravid were opposites in a lot of ways,” he said. “But they were of similar thinking. We have this whole concept of aggression now. Rohit was aggressive but that didn’t manifest in his behaviour.”