June 29, 2024: The day that will forever be etched in the annals of Indian cricket. The Men in Blue finally ended a barren run of 11 years and won the T20 World Cup for only the second time by defeating South Africa by seven runs in a thrilling final. It was a moment the entire cricket-crazy nation of India had been waiting for over a decade. They had come agonisingly close on numerous occasions – reaching the knockouts of almost every ICC tournament between 2014 and 2023 – last year’s World Cup ending with India’s most painful World Cup exit. But as the saying goes, all’s well that ends well.
Hence, the emotional scenes that followed India’s T20 World Cup win was inevitable. The sight of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Hardik Pandya shedding tears of joy was one of the most fulfilling visuals in the history of Indian cricket. These players had endured countless heartbreaks in the previous decade, so for life to have come full circle must have been one of the most endearing and satisfactory experiences of their careers.
The hangover and celebrations stemming from India’s historic win spilled into their flight from Barbados to Delhi. As Hurricane Beryl left the entire Indian contingent stranded in West Indies for a few days – players, BCCI officials and journalists alike – board secretary Jay Shah organised a charter-plane to bring the players back home. However, after understanding the plight of the journalists stuck there, after a discussion with captain Rohit Sharma, Shah got them on board too.
Previous details of the flight revealed include how the pilot reserved a special compliment for Rahul Dravid, or how The Wall gave up his business-class seat to go sleep in economy, or how Rohit jokingly scolded a player. However, did you know, that during the flight, Virat Kohli spoke about how he has changed and even kept a secret from Suryakumar Yadav? Renowned sports journalist Vimal Kumar, an independent reporter, who travelled back with the team, shared some never-before-heard stories that took place during India’s ‘party’ inside the aircraft from Barbados to Delhi.
“The entire flight back was like a party. When I was entering the flight, Rohit said jokingly ‘don’t get started with your camera’. Then I heard a voice from behind ‘Yes, he goes everywhere with his camera’. I turned around and saw it was Virat Kohli. Kohli was in black. Both openers started teasing me, so Virat said ‘We are openers; we will hit from the first ball’. Then Virat and I shared a joke which I can’t disclose since it is personal. That was related to a third person whom I can’t name. So we all started laughing. Surya was behind; when he came asking what the joke is about, I and Virat kept it as a secret from him,” he shared on the ‘Two Sloggers’ podcast.
‘What are you saying? My beard has gone all grey’: Kohli
Some of the players were in business class, and after a month-long hectic tournament, one would assume that on a flight as long as 15 hours, people would sleep, right? Surprisingly, not a single soul slept even for a second. Forget being seated, the players had a ball, content standing near the washroom for over an hour, with Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja laughing and screaming at the top of their voices,” added Kumar.
The journalist has known Kohli since his Under-19 days, so when Virat, along with BCCI secretary Shah approached Kumar, the two spoke for long. Reminiscing how far Kohli has come – from an 18-year-old promising talent to world’s biggest cricketing superstar – the memories flashed before Kumar’s eyes, but deep down he knew that despite the superstardom, fame and the legendary status that Kohli has acquired, he is still the same as he was 16 years ago.
Kohli however, playfully contradicted his thoughts. “What are you saying? How have I not changed. Look at my beard. It has gone all grey,” he said referring to how white someone’s shoes were on that plane.
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