Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday announced his retirement from T20 international cricket after the T24 World Cup trophy was lifted for the second time under his captaincy.
India beat South Africa in Barbados on Saturday in the World Cup final.
He revealed this during a press conference and followed the suit of Virat Kohli, who announced his retirement during the post-match presentation.
“This is also my last match [T20I]. There is no better time to say goodbye to this format. I have enjoyed all these moments. I started my Indian career playing in this format. This is what I want, the cup I want to win.
“I want it so bad. It’s hard to put it into words. This is a very exciting moment for me. I want this horse to be a lot in my life. I’m glad we finally crossed paths.”
Rohit emerged from the format as the highest run-scorer – 4,231 runs in 159 matches – and holds the record for most centuries (five) in T20 internationals. He has won the T20 World Cup twice: first as a player in 2007 and now as captain in 2024.
Rohit and Kohli’s withdrawal from the T20I format was completely unexpected. After India’s semi-final defeat in the T20 World Cup 2022, none of the players featured and they started playing T20 matches in January this year, focusing only on the T20 World Cup 2024.
As captain, Rohit played 62 matches where he scored 1905 runs at an average of 149.76 and 34.01. He won 49 matches as captain from 62.
