Just after superstar Virat Kohli declared he was bowing out of T20 Internationals, skipper Rohit Sharma followed suit, announcing his retirement from the format after leading the team to victory in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
The "Hitman", who had been the captain of the team for over two years, told reporters at the post-match conference that "this was my last game as well," referring to Virat Kohli's earlier announcement that he will be retiring from T20Is.
Rohit, who scored a 41-ball 92-run knock in the Super 8s clash against Australia, said at Barbados that there couldn't be a better time to bid adieu to the T20I. He would however continue to play for the country in Test and ODI formats.
"I've enjoyed it since the time I started playing this format. No better time to say goodbye to this format. I've loved every moment of this. This is what I wanted - I wanted to win the cup," he said amid applause from the audience.
He added that this was the perfect situation for him to say goodbye. "I didn't think that I would retire from T20 but such a situation came and I thought it was the perfect situation for me. Nothing better than winning the cup and saying goodbye," he added,
The captain, whose remarkable T20I career began with India's victory in the 2007 World Cup, said life has come a full circle for him. "I started playing in 2007. I went to Ireland for 50 overs but soon we went to South Africa to play the T20 World Cup and we won and now this, so it is a full circle now, I am very happy with this," he added, as India defeated South Africa by seven runs at the Kensington Oval in the final.
The 37-year-old had led India in the 2022 T20 World Cup where the team was ousted in the semifinals by eventual champions England. A year later, India reached the final of the 50-over World Cup at home under his leadership but succumbed to Australia in the summit clash at Ahmedabad.
Rohit leaves T20Is with 4231 runs from 159 matches, having made five hundreds and 32 fifties. He continues to be active in the Test and ODI formats.
He also opened up about the challenges playing in all three formats. "It is a big challenge to play all 3 formats let alone captaining it. For us and players, it is difficult to adapt quickly. You have to work on the technical aspects and batsmanship. In T20, you have to play different shots from the start because I do the opening. It is also fun to play different formats. I enjoyed batting and captaincy in all the formats," he said.
Before Rohit made the statement, Indian batting ace Virat Kohli announced his retirement from T20I cricket. Virat Kohli, who won the Player of the Tournament award for his 59-ball 76, said he just finished playing his last T20 World Cup and achieved exactly what the team wanted.
During the post-match presentation, Kohli said he feels that it is time for the next generation of Indian cricketers to take over. The announcement of the final being his last T20 game was an open secret, the 35-year-old said, adding that he would have announced it even if India had lost the final.
When Harsha Bhogle asked Kohli to reaffirm what he had just said, here is what the former Indian captain said: "Yes, I have. This was my last T20 game playing for India... Not something that I wasn't going to announce even if we had lost. Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward.