Why do people eat earth? Either they have nutrient deficiencies, or they are afflicted with the eating disorder known as pica. If you are Rohit Sharma, you eat a speck of dust off Barbados' surface to sense the taste of success. You eat to celebrate the new chapter of Indian cricket, that took thirteen years in making. You eat to remember. You eat because the soil is special. You eat to mark the legacy you are leaving as a captain, becoming only the second to lead the Indian team to the T20 World Cup title. There has always been a general consensus ever since Rohit Sharma took over as the Indian captain, that the elusive hunt for the ICC trophy will come to an end under his reign.

It didn't come as quickly as the Indian cricket had hoped. There was a series of tragic disappointments, be it last year's crushing defeat in the final of the home World Cup, the World Test Championship defeat at Lord's, or the ten-wicket drubbing against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup. These defeats had the Indian fandom scarred, laying bare the fickle nature of tournaments, where being the strongest team overall don't matter as much as being the best on that particular day. India have always been a strong contender, even better in many parameters than the opponents, yet they couldn't prove their strength while crossing the final hurdle. They always ended up getting outclassed. The winning touch expected of Rohit, thanks to his incredible exploits at Mumbai Indians, was missing. After every defeat, you'd see the sunken face of Rohit. To come so close yet so far was the recurrent theme of his captaincy. Though Rohit still had the street, of leading the strongest team to never win a major title. That changed in Barbados, and you could sense the relief on his face.

As soon as the last ball was delivered by Hardik Pandya, the camera panned to Rohit who fell to the ground, with his arms stretched and eyes closed, and he stayed in this supine state for some time before gathering himself to join the celebration. It was a sight that screamed relief more than euphoria. No one knew better than him that the team he led was just too good to disappear without any title. "This picture epitomises how I’m feeling right now," wrote Rohit on Twitter. "So many words but can’t find the right ones to express what yesterday meant to me but I will, and I will share them, but right now I’m basking in a dream come true for a billion of us."

As luck would have it, or the age, this also turned out to be his last outing in this format. He played his first T20 World Cup in 2007, almost two decades ago when India outsmarted Pakistan in the final to clinch the title. This was his ninth T20 World Cup appearance, also proving to be his last, as he confirmed minutes after winning the trophy. At 37, he is approaching the dusk of his legendary career, and given the next ODI World Cup is in 2027, it's unlikely he'll stay for that long. "This has to be the greatest time. I can say that. It's only because of how desperately I wanted to win this. All the runs that I've scored in all these years, it does matter but I'm not big on stats and all of that," said Rohit in a post-match conference.