Star batter Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said former head coach Rahul Dravid, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar and BCCI secretary Jay Shah backed him to the hilt in his effort to extract the best from players without worrying about results, eventuating in India's T20 World Cup triumph under him.
Under Rohit's leadership, India triumphed in the ICC showpiece in June beating South Africa in the final. It was their second T20 world title after 2007, and Rohit also brought curtains on his career in the shortest format with that victory at Barbados. “It was my dream to transform this team and not worry too much about the stats, the results, to make sure that we create that environment where people can go out there and play freely without thinking too much,” Rohit said after being named the men's international cricketer of the year at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards here. “That is what was required.
I got a lot of help from my three pillars, who are actually Mr Jay Shah, Mr Rahul Dravid (and the) chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar,” he said. “That was very critical for me to do what I did and obviously not to forget the players, who came in at different points in time and helped the team to achieve what we achieved,” he said.
Rohit said the feeling of winning the World Cup that ended India's decade-long drought in global tournaments could not be described in words. “(It was) a feeling that cannot come everyday.