Following India’s victory against South Africa in the World Cup final on Saturday, skipper Rohit Sharma made the announcement that he would be retiring from T20 international cricket. Rohit announced that he will be withdrawing from the shortest format but would still play for India in the Test and ODI formats. Shortly after Virat Kohli, his colleague, also declared his retirement from Indian T20 cricket, Rohit made his declaration.
As he celebrated India’s historic second T20 World Cup victory, Rohit remarked in the post-match news conference, “No better time to say goodbye.” Given that Rohit started his T20I career with a World Cup victory and finished it with another, the decision is a suitable way to cap off his career. With 4231 runs from 159 matches at an average of 3205 during those 17 years, Rohit became the best run scorer for India in Twenty20 Internationals. As a hitter, he reached previously unheard-of heights. He is the only Indian batter with the most hundreds in the format with five. In November 2021, he was appointed India’s permanent T20I captain, and he completed an incredible career by winning 50 matches in that role.
“I also played my last game tonight. Ever since I started playing this format, I’ve liked it. I have enjoyed every second of it. To the media’s cheers, Rohit continued, “This is what I wanted—to win the cup.” He saluted the room.
After making his debut in the 2007 T20 World Cup against England, where Yuvraj Singh’s aggressive hitting denied him the opportunity to bat, Rohit made his debut for India in the Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa, where he made a memorable fifty-nine not out and contributed to the team’s victory. It turns out that Rohit played against the same team in his final match of the T20 World Cup, finishing with 257 runs at a strike rate of 156.7 and three very significant half-centuries against Australia, England, and Ireland.
Indian athletes rarely retire on a good note, particularly in cricket, thus Rohit and Kohli’s choice is all the more admirable. Even though they were still productive at 36 and 35, Rohit and Kohli cleared the path for the next generation of players to succeed. Both agreed that giving up on the format was necessary for the future of Indian cricket, especially because the 2026 T20 World Cup will be hosted in India. Additionally, with the Champions Trophy and World Test Championship final scheduled for next year, it provides them both more time to concentrate on ODIs and Tests. Who knows? If all goes according to plan, Rohit and Kohli might even give the 2027 World Cup in South Africa one last go.
Rohit Sharma’s exit from T20I cricket was predicted.
It was all written on the wall. Following India’s loss to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal, Rohit and Kohli vanished from the Indian T20I lineup. After taking a break of over 14 months to prepare for the ODIs ahead of the 50-over World Cup, it appeared like the BCCI and Indian cricketing community had moved on from Rohit and Kohli. However, things weren’t quite clear when board secretary Jay Shah declared in January that Rohit will captain India in the 2024 T20 World Cup and that he and Kohli would play the T20Is against Afghanistan at home. Even though many individuals were still uneasy about this choice, it ended up being beneficial. Should Rohit need to go through that in order to become just the third captain of India to win a World Cup, then so be it.
Rohit’s form was a big worry going into the T20 World Cup because he was coming off a terrible IPL 2024 for the Mumbai Indians. Rohit’s numbers fell off after he produced a century in a loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders. Playing under Hardik Pandya, he finished the season with 417 runs, 100 of which came in an innings. However, his luck changed as soon as he returned to India. With a warm-up fifty against Ireland to start the competition, he never looked back.
After struggling against Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, Rohit found his game against Australia, smashing 92 runs off of 41 balls in the Super Eights. Rohit destroyed the Australians with eight sixes and seven fours on an unbelievable surface, putting an end to their chances of winning the event. On a two-paced pitch against England, Rohit struck a resolute 57 off 39 balls, including six fours and two sixes, to enable India reach 171/7, which ultimately proved to be the winning total.
Similar to his ODI career, Rohit discovered his true calling in the T20I format as he and Shikhar Dhawan opened the scoring. Just 481 of his runs came from other positions; 3740 of his runs have come from the opening of the inning.
