It had been the one medal missing from Sachin Tendulkar's packed trophy cabinet. And the master batsman is ecstatic to realise his dream in what is likely to be his last World Cup.
Do you now feel complete?
This was the first thing, as a young boy when I started
playing, dreaming of lifting the trophy. I'm speechless, to be honest. This is by far the best moment. After all I've been waiting for 20-21 years, and I feel the wait was worth it.
It hasn't come easily..
It's my sixth World Cup and you can imagine having had to wait for five World Cups. In one of them, we lost in the semis and in the other, in the finals. It is heartbreaking but one should never give up, continue to work hard. Never lose hope. It is important to chase our dreams and this was my biggest dream.
You've achieved everything. Ready to hang up your boots?
This is the moment to enjoy and celebrate. It's not about what I’m going to do in the future. This is a moment I really want to enjoy and live to the fullest. This is why I started playing cricket, to achieve something for the country. It had been a long process. I have enjoyed the game and I'm continuing to do so. I don’t want to change anything for now.
About the guys you have played the previous World Cups with.
I’ve played five before, and everyone in those teams wanted to win. Sometimes you don’t get everything in life. That’s destiny. I'm sure they are equally happy now. We all have won this Cup, not only us 15 players. It belongs to the entire nation.
(Source: ICC)