After Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma also announces retirement from T20Is: 'There is no better time to say goodbye'

Indian captain Rohit Sharma announced that the T20 World Cup final triumph against South Africa was his last in the format. Rohit confirmed the same in the post-match press conference.

“This is my last game, it’s the perfect time to say goodbye to this format. I have loved every moment of it. I started my career for India playing in this format and that’s what I wanted, I wanted to win the World Cup,” Rohit said.

Emotional after India’s first win in an ICC tournament in 11 years, Rohit added: “I am completely lost and I can’t say what kind of emotions I am going through. I can’t explain it in words. Let that sink in. Last night, I couldn’t sleep because I was desperate and wanted it so much. But I did well on the field.

The 37-year-old becomes only the third Indian captain to win a World Cup – across all formats – after Kapil Dev (1983) and MS Dhoni (2007 and 2011).

The Indian skipper has now become the first-ever captain to lead a team to 50 T20I matches. The 50th triumph being the World Cup final against South Africa.

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Rohit took over as India’s captain in the shortest format after the team’s disappointing performance in the 2021 T20 World Cup.

In his first outing as captain in the T20 World Cup, Rohit had led the team to the semi-final in Australia two years ago. It was a campaign that ended in total defeat against England.

Under Rohit’s leadership, India also became the first team to win the T20 World Cup without losing a single match. This ended the ICC’s infamous trophy drought of over 11 years.

Rohit’s announcement comes after former India skipper Virat Kohli also announced that this was his last World Cup in the shortest format for India.

“This was my last T20 World Cup, that’s exactly what we wanted to achieve. One day you feel like you can’t run and it happens, God is great. Just the opportunity, it’s now or never,” Kohli, who was the player of the match in the final, had said at the post-match press conference.

First published online on: 30-06-2024 at 02:16 IST