Soon after India’s T20 World Cup final win, Rohit Sharma made a surprising announcement that the title clash against South Africa was the last for him in the format at international level. Rohit’s stunner came moments after India teammate Virat Kohli had revealed he’s played the last T20I of his career.
The two decided to bid goodbye to T20Is on a high – Rohit realising his dream of winning a world cup as captain and Kohli adding a T20 world title to the 2011 ODI World Cup against his name.
Is there any chance that Rohit will have a rethink over his decision? The 37-year-old is crystal clear over his T20I retirement and has also called out the trend of cricketers who have made retirement U-turns.
“Retirement has become a joke these days in world of cricket these days,” Rohit said on JioCinema. “People announce retirement but then return to play. It hasn’t happened in India, it’s rare here. However, I have been observing players from other countries – they announce retirement but then make a U-turn. So you never really know whether someone has actually retired.”
When asked if he would like to be the trailblazer in this regard, Rohit replied in the negative. “My decision is final and I am very clear. It was a perfect time to say goodbye to the format which I really loved playing. I played 50-over cricket for India and then directly I played T20 World Cup in 2007. I won then and then this one too (2024 T20 World Cup). Good time to move on,” he said.
Rohit played 159 T20Is between 2007 and 2024, scoring 4231 runs at a strike-rate of 140.89 including five centuries and 32 fifties. His T20I debut was the inaugural 2007 World T20 which India went on to win by beating Pakistan in the final.
Rohit will continue to represent India in Tests and ODIs.
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