India’s cricket captain, Rohit Sharma, has announced his retirement from T20I cricket, marking the end of an illustrious career after leading the team to its second World Cup victory in the format. Sharma made the announcement during a press conference following India’s seven-run victory over South Africa in the final at Kensington Oval, Barbados. He described this moment as the perfect time to “say goodbye.”
A video circulating on social media shows Rohit revealing that his retirement from T20I cricket was not initially planned. “I didn’t think that I would retire from T20Is, but the situation was such… I thought it was the perfect situation for me. Nothing better than winning the cup and saying goodbye,” he said.
Join us on WhatsApp, click here
With Rohit stepping down, Hardik Pandya is poised to take over the T20I captaincy. Pandya had already led the team in Rohit’s absence during the 2023 T20I matches, making him the front-runner for the role.
Rohit Sharma: “I was not in the mood to retire from T20I, but the situation has arisen, so I decided to do so.”
Perhaps he is thinking of building a new team. He might have thought of retiring on his own.
— Sitab Chaudhary-Office (@sitab_chaudhary) June 30, 2024
Rohit’s decision came shortly after his long-time teammate, Virat Kohli, announced his own retirement. “This was my last game as well. No better time to say goodbye. I wanted this trophy badly. It’s very hard to put in words,” Rohit shared with the media.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma announces retirement from T20Is after Virat’s ‘my last T20 World Cup’ announcement
Reflecting on his achievement, he added, “This is what I wanted, and it happened. I was very desperate for this in my life. Happy that we crossed the line this time.”
At 37, Rohit Sharma had led India to the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinals, where they were defeated by the eventual champions, England. The following year, under his leadership, India reached the final of the 50-over World Cup at home but lost to Australia in the summit clash at Ahmedabad.
Rohit concluded his T20I career with impressive statistics, amassing 4231 runs in 159 matches, including five centuries and 32 fifties. Despite his retirement from T20Is, he remains active in Test and ODI formats.
