Legendary trio's farewell to remember

"The nice guy who finished first" is the title of a biography on Rahul Dravid, an obvious attempt at wordplay in reference to Dravid's reputation as cricket's ultimate nice guy who went on to become one of the greatest batters India has ever produced.

However, before June 29, 2024, this title was essentially propagating a lie. While Dravid had risen to incredible heights in his playing career, 'The Wall' never truly came 'first' as he was never a world champion.

As a coach, he shepherded India's Under-19 team to a World Cup trophy in 2019, and after taking over the reins of the senior team in 2021, India played two finals in 2023 – the World Test Championship and the ICC ODI World Cup – but once again, his side slipped up.

Up against South Africa, the final of the just-concluded Men's T20 World Cup was Dravid's final chance to be involved in a World Cup triumph for India in any capacity for the foreseeable future, as the 51-year-old had already announced that he would be leaving the post after the tournament.

Meanwhile, for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, two modern-day greats of India and world cricket, the final was their chance to bid adieu to the shortest format as world champions. Both knew what it felt like to lift a World Cup, with Rohit being part of India's triumph in the maiden edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007 and Kohli lifting Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders after they won the final of the ODI World Cup in 2011 in front of an enraptured home crowd in Mumbai.

But after tasting the ultimate success so early in their respective careers, the duo had to endure the agony of getting close but eventually falling short in ICC tournaments for over a decade. Rohit and Kohli, aged 37 and 35 respectively, are nearing the swansong of their respective careers and, while they had already done more than enough to cement their positions as icons of Indian cricket, failure to drive their team to a world championship as leading figures remained a blemish in both of their careers.

The desperation to win a World Cup trophy was evident, as Rohit wanted his batters to move past the circumspect approach that brought their downfall in previous T20 World Cups and lead by example at the top. Especially, his assault against Australia in the Super Eight, a swashbuckling 92 off 41 balls, set the stage for Australia's eventual elimination, removing the biggest thorn to India's charge for the title.

Kohli, on the other hand, had a terrible tournament leading up to the final. But even though he couldn't get among the runs, he continued opening the innings for India, not dropping down to his favourite one-down position where he averages almost 54 in T20Is. Kohli conceding his superstar status for the betterment of the team is one example of how motivated The Men in Blue were to make sure this time they return home with the trophy.

In the end, Rohit's bold stance and Kohli's sacrifice bore fruit as they both have now hung up their boots in T20Is as World Cup winners. Meanwhile, the place where Dravid had experienced his biggest failure, when India got eliminated from the group stage of the 2007 ODI World Cup in the Caribbean under his leadership, has become the place where he finally became a world champion.