Former captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday expressed hope that India’s men’s and women’s teams will build on their success in winning the T20 and 50-over World Cups, respectively, and bring more honors to the nation in the future.
Since Rohit guided the squad to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup, India has won a number of ICC titles. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led team won the Women’s ODI World Cup for the first time in 2025, the same year that the women’s U-19 team won the world T20 championship.
While the Suryakumar Yadav-led seniors became the first to win the T20 World Cup for a record third time last Sunday, India started 2026 by winning the U-19 ODI World Cup for a record sixth time.
“I am very happy and very proud to see what we have been seeing for the last couple of years now,” at the unveiling of the fourth edition for men and the first for women in Mumbai, Rohit, the face of the T20 Mumbai League, was quoted as saying by PTI.
“To come out with flying colours and achieve what we have achieved, not just the men’s team but also the women’s team winning that World Cup in (Navi) Mumbai was fantastic to watch,” he added.
The Mumbai man expressed hope that India would soon win more global titles.
“Recently, the men’s team, what they did was phenomenal. I hope this is just the start, there is no looking back from here because once you get that momentum, we often talk about momentum and now both the men’s and women’s teams have that momentum. All I hope is that we carry this momentum forward,” Rohit said.
The former captain of India also expressed gratitude to those who contribute “behind the scenes” for the achievement.
“There is no secret to success, it’s all about hard work. The men’s and women’s team have worked really hard to achieve what they have achieved today. Of course, it’s not just about the players who perform on the field, there are so many people behind the scene who have put in so much of hard work into that success so that the team can have success. A lot of people and personnel to give thanks to,” Rohit added.
The 38-year-old stated that in addition to working hard, a player must have good fortune to be in the right position at the right moment.
“When players are picked in the national team there is a reason why they’ve been picked. We have seen there is so much competition in our country when we talk about cricket. Right from U-14s you got to be lucky; of course you need the talent to find success but you also got to be lucky to be at the right time at the right place for people to notice you.
“Sometimes you can be as talented as you can be but if people are not watching you, then you can be slightly unlucky. You got to lucky as well but there is no substitute to hard work and that is not just with the Mumbaikars but also with the players who are representing the country,” he said.
After a brief break last year, T20 Mumbai made a comeback for a third edition. This season, a three-team women’s competition will co-exist with the eight-team men’s league.
“It was a tough task right after the IPL got over and monsoon had just started. I got to give credit to each and every member of the MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) to pull that through, making three games in a day happen is not easy. Also a big, big round of applause to all the groundsmen as well who put their hands up and got the grounds ready, which is why I said there is no substitute to hard work. With three new (women’s) teams added, it’s getting bigger,” he said.
