Mumbai: Former India captain praises Indian men’s team for winning 2026 T20 World Cup, women’s team won maiden Women’s ODI World Cup last year Rohit Sharma Expressing the hope that “looking back”, both sides will “carry forward this momentum.” “I’m very happy and proud to see what we’ve seen over the past few years. To be able to perform well and achieve what we’ve achieved, not only the men’s team but also the women’s team, winning the World Cup in Mumbai is fantastic. The men’s team have been doing really well recently. I hope this is just the start and there’s no looking back from here because once you get that momentum… we talk about momentum a lot and now both the men’s and women’s teams are talking about momentum. “The women’s team has that momentum. I hope we can build on this momentum. ” Rohit said at the launch ceremony of the new T20 Mumbai League season on Saturday and announced the three-team T20 Mumbai Women’s League.
Led by Rohit Sharma then Suryakumar YadavThe Indian men’s team won back-to-back T20 World Cup titles in 2024 and 2026 in Ahmedabad on March 8, beating New Zealand by 96 runs in the final. Meanwhile, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian women’s team finished third after beating South Africa by 52 runs at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai last year to win the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup. The modern-day great attributed the success of the Indian men’s and women’s teams to the “people behind the scenes”. “There is no secret to success, it all depends on hard work. Both the men’s and women’s teams have worked very hard to achieve today’s results. Of course, it is not just the performance of the players on the field, but also the many people behind the scenes who have put in so much hard work so that the team can achieve success.” There are a lot of people and staff to thank,” the 38-year-old said. Rohit’s advice to players in the T20 Mumbai League is simple: “Seize the opportunity.” “You never know what will happen, so whenever an opportunity comes, you should be ready to face the challenge. I still believe in the process of being prepared and ready for the opportunity,” said the ‘hitman’.When asked if Mumbai’s cricketers have an advantage over other cricketers because of the struggles they go through growing up as cricketers, Rohit disagreed with the idea. “I don’t believe in that advantage. When players are selected in the national team, they are selected for a reason. When we talk about cricket, we have seen so much competition in our country. Starting from the U-14s, you have to be lucky; of course, you need talent to be successful, but you also have to be lucky to be in the right place, at the right time for people to notice you. Sometimes you can be as talented as you can be, but if people don’t pay attention to you, then you can fall slightly behind unfortunately. You have to be lucky too but there is no substitute for hard work and this applies not only to Mumbaikars but also to the players who represent the country. ” said the prologue. Also present were Indian women’s team pacer Sayali Satghere, Mumbai Cricket Association president Ajinkya Naik, former president Ashish Shelar and the entire MCA apex council. Rohit expressed his happiness at the “development of cricket in Mumbai”. “They are going through a tough slog to get there. But (I’m) very happy with the way Mumbai cricket is developing and what T20 Mumbai is doing. We’ve seen a lot of the young cricketers who played in T20 Mumbai go on to play in the IPL team and of course the national team, so it’s a very, very big platform. I’m sure people who are going to play will understand that this format is great and I’m happy that we did it again after the success we had last season,” he said. Rohit praised MCA for resuming the T20 Mumbai League even as the monsoon has just begun. “After the IPL is over and the monsoon has just started, it was a huge task. I have to say thank you to every member of the MCA for making it possible, three matches in one day is not easy and a big round of applause to all the ground staff who put their hands up to prepare the ground. That’s why I say there is no substitute for hard work.” It’s getting bigger with the addition of three new teams,” Rohit said.
