Rohit Sharma explains why he ate soil of Barbados pitch after India's T20 World Cup 2024 win at Kensington Oval

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India captain Rohit Sharma went in the middle of the Kensington Oval in Barbados and ate a speck of soil from the pitch after winning the T20 World Cup 2024 title on Saturday, June 7.

Pictures and videos of an emotional Rohit Sharma eating the soil from the Barbados pitch went viral. The 37-year-old has now explained his feeling as he strolled towards the pitch which ended India's 13-year wait for an ICC World Cup trophy.

In a video posted by the BCCI on Tuesday, Rohit Sharma has revealed that the gesture was not scripted, and it came instinctively to him to "have a piece of the pitch" with him. The star opener said that Kensington Oval will now hold a special place in his life.

"See, those things are actually, I don't think I can describe that because nothing was scripted. It was all, you know, whatever was coming instinctively, I was feeling the moment, when I went to the pitch, because that pitch gave us this. We played on that particular pitch and we won the game, That particular ground as well.

"I will remember that ground forever in my life and that pitch as well. So I wanted to have a piece of it with me. Yeah, those moments are very, very special. And the place where all our dreams came true. I wanted something of it. So that was the feeling behind it," said Rohit.

Rohit Sharma also confessed that the feeling of winning the T20 World Cup is yet to sink in. Rohit, who was the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, said winning the coveted trophy still feels unreal.

"Yeah, the feeling actually is surreal. Uh, it's still I would still say it hasn't sunk in. Totally. It's been a great moment. You know, right from when the game got over till now, you know, it feels like a dream. We still feel that it hasn't happened, although it has happened, but it feels like it hasn't happened."

"That's the emotion. That's the feeling that you have. We've dreamt about this for such a long period of time. We worked hard as a unit for such a long period of time, and to see this now with us feels quite relieved as well, because, when you work hard for something and you eventually get it at the end, it feels really, really nice," said Rohit.

The Indian cricket team hasn't yet left Barbados due to Hurricane Beryl. Reports have emerged that a chartered flight has been arranged for Team India, their families, support staff and the BCCI officials. The team is expected to land in Delhi around 7:45 PM on Wednesday.