Winning the T20 World Cup earlier this year was something that made him "feel alive again", admitted India captain Rohit Sharma here on Thursday.


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India put behind their heartbreaking loss to Australia in the ODI World Cup final last November to finally end their drought in ICC events, executing yet another near-perfect campaign to clinch a thrilling win in the T20 World Cup summit clash against South Africa. Rohit's team had won 10 out of 10 matches en route to the ODI World Cup final but endured a crushing defeat in Ahmedabad last year.


During the launch of his cricket academy in Rashin, Karjat, in the Ahmednagar district, Rohit made a brief speech to a raucous crowd in the presence of the Maharashtra Cricket Association president Rohit Pawar.


"I do not speak Marathi that well but I will try," Rohit told the crowd after taking a short walk on the stage and signing some autographs.


"For us, winning the World Cup was the biggest goal for 3-4 months that we had to win it. After winning the World Cup, I felt alive again," he said.


"We are starting our cricket academy here and I will hope that the next Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah will emerge from here," he added.


Having led India to a commanding 2-0 win in Tests over Bangladesh, Rohit and a few other senior members of the team will take a break from the T20 series ahead of the five-match Test tour of Australia starting on November 22.