India's T20 World Cup 2024 win against South Africa on Saturday was a career-defining moment for captain Rohit Sharma. 

Despite his own disappointing performance in the final, India emerged victorious after a hard-fought contest. Tears of joy were shed in the Indian camp as Rohit chose to commemorate the moment by consuming some sand from the pitch where he secured his first ICC title as captain.

In a video posted by the ICC, Rohit Sharma is seen taking a pinch of sand from the Barbados pitch where the final took place. He then put the sand inside his mouth. The video of the incident later went viral on social media. 

Using a popular Hindi film line, Rohit said the triumph here was written in the stars.

"Jo likha hain who hone wala hain, ye likha tha but humko pata nahi hain kee kab likha hain. Nahi toh hum aaram se aate and bolte 'likha hain' aur ho jayega (I believe that what is written is going to happen. I think it was written. But obviously you don't know before the match. Otherwise, we would have easily come and said, it's written)," he quipped.

"Everything has to fall in place. As you saw, we were way behind the game. At one point, it seemed like they would win easily," he said referring to South Africa gaining the upper hand courtesy Heinrich Klaasen's blazing 52 off 27 balls.

Life has come full circle for Rohit, who was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup win under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy.

Talking about his T20 journey, he said: "I was told that I started in 2007, won the World Cup and I am leaving the game after winning the World Cup. So that's a tailor-made situation for me. A proper full circle. So I'm very happy with this."

"I was 20 years old at that time. I tell my players to try perform their role. I had a role at that time. I used to bat at 5 or 6 number. So, it was very important to finish well for us.

"I understand the game much better now, having played for so many years. So, it's been brilliant," he said adding that it is a big challenge to play and captain in all three formats.

(With inouts from agencies)