"We thought the trophy will be shared but umpires said the match starts in 20 minutes"- Rohit Sharma narrates lesser-known backstory of India's Champions Trophy win
Rohit Sharma was a member of the Indian squad that gave the nation its last ICC trophy eight years ago. However, the Indian team had no idea on the day of the final whether the match would take place because it was raining cats and dogs. The Men in Blue thought they will have to share the trophy with England at the time.
In a recent video posted by ICC on their Instagram page, Indian T20I vice-captain Rohit Sharma recalled the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 final against England. Narrating a lesser-known story about that day, Sharma said:
"There's a very good story to that final because it was raining the whole day. We thought we will have to share the trophy with England. The amount of rain that came down, we thought there is no possibility of play because of the wet outfield and all of that. The groundsmen said they need certain time to get the ground ready. So inside we were assuming that it's not possible."
Rohit Sharma continued:
"All the guys were relaxed. Nobody was talking about the game. Nobody was thinking about the game. We were sitting in the dining area, chilling, talking about something else. Suddenly, the umpire comes in and he says the game will start in 20 minutes. We just jumped out of our seats and were like, 'Okay, Really?'"
Rohit Sharma opened the innings for India in the 2013 Champions Trophy final
Rohit Sharma added that the Indian cricket team did not have enough time to plan for the match that was reduced to a 20-overs-a-side game. England won the toss and invited India to bat first. Rohit Sharma opened the innings for the team and scored nine runs off 14 balls while Virat Kohli's 43-run knock helped India post a 129-run total.
Hosts England started as the favorites to win and were 110/4 in 17.2 overs. However, Ishant Sharma turned the match around with two wickets in two balls, and Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin defended 19 runs off the last two overs to guide India home.