"It did not turn up that way" - Kuldeep Yadav opens up on Rohit Sharma failing to replicate Lionel Messi's walk after World Cup win
Team India spinner Kuldeep Yadav recently revealed that he asked captain Rohit Sharma to replicate Argentina star Lionel Messi's World Cup-winning walk after their T20 World Cup victory on June 29. India defeated South Africa by seven runs to lift their second T20 World Cup title and their first ICC trophy in 11 years.
India won the match by the slimmest of margins. Suryakumar Yadav's catch on the ropes to send David Miller back to the pavilion has been compared with Emiliano Martinez's save. The shot-stopper's 120th-minute block to prevent France striker Kolo Muani from scoring was dubbed the defining moment of the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.
Lionel Messi's walk to lift the World Cup following their 4-2 win on penalties went viral. Kuldeep Yadav stated he asked Rohit Sharma to replicate the walk and while the captain tried his best, he was unable to copy it completely. Instead, his walk was compared to WWE legend Ric Flair's.
Here's what Kuldeep Yadav said while speaking to NDTV:
"He wanted to try something and I told him to do it like Lionel Messi, what he did in the Fifa World Cup. So, I told him to do that but it did not turn up that way. It was actually very good and even PM Modi went through that video."
The Indian team landed in New Delhi from Barbados on July 5 and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the same day. The team later took a flight to Mumbai to participate in an open-top bus parade and took a victory lap at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
What were Rohit Sharma's and Lionel Messi's stats in their respective World Cup finals?
Over the years, Rohit Sharma has cemented himself as one of the most electrifying openers in world cricket. He projected a similar form in the T20 World Cup. He scored 257 runs in eight matches and ended the tournament as the second-highest run-getter and hit a whopping 15 sixes.
Sadly, Rohit fell cheaply in the final, scoring just nine runs. However, his tactics as captain made all the difference as India picked wickets at crucial junctures throughout the tournament and also finished unbeaten.
On the flip side, Messi scored seven goals in the tournament, including a crucial brace in the final. His performance was only topped by France talisman Kylian Mbappe who scored a hat-trick in the final and ended the tournament with eight goals. He subsequently won the Golden Boot award.
Notably, Messi added the World Cup to his list of trophies, that had continued to elude him.