Dallas (USA):India captain Rohit Sharma, who turned 37 this year, said that he will continue to play Test and ODI cricket “at least for a while” after ending his T20 international career with a World Cup win last month.
Rohit Sharma-led Indian side clinched their second T20 World Cup by defeating South Africa in the final in Barbados on July 29. Following the Men in Blue’s triumph, Rohit announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game.
Announcing his retirement in a post-match press conference, Rohit said, “No better time to say goodbye. This was my last game as well. I’ve enjoyed it since the time I started playing this format. I’ve loved every moment of this. This is what I wanted – I wanted to win the cup.”
Rohit finished the T20 World Cup as the tournament’s second-leading run-getter and highest run-scorer for India. He scored 257 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 156.70. He also smashed three half-centuries in the competition with a 92-run knock against 2021 Champions Australia being the most notable contribution.
The 37-year-old is currently on vacation and was present at Wimbledon last week. He then visited the USA, where India played their group stage games of the T20 World Cup, for the inauguration of his new cricket academy ‘CricKingdom’.
This announcement led to speculations about his retirement from other formats around the corner. However, Nearly two weeks after India’s triumph, Rohit buried all the buzz revolving around his retirement from other formats including Tests and ODIs. “I just said it. I don’t look that far ahead. So clearly, you will be seeing me play at least for a while,” the Indian captain said.
Earlier in the week, Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah had confirmed that Rohit will lead India in the upcoming World Test Championship final (WTC) and the Champions Trophy next year in February-March. “Our next targets are the World Test Championship (WTC) and Champions Trophy 2025 and I have a huge belief that we will become champions in both these tournaments under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma,” quipped Jay Shah.
The Mumbaikar has captained India in four ICC tournaments so far including the 2022 and 2024 T20 World Cup, 2023 World Test Championship final and 2023 ODI World Cup, out of which he won one.
In the 2022 T20 World Cup, the team was ousted in the semi-finals by eventual champions England. In the next year, India faced defeats in the WTC final in Oval and the 50-over World Cup final in Ahmedabad against reigning champions Australia.
India will tour Sri Lanka for three T20Is and as many ODIs as the Island nation. Rohit is expected to travel to Sri Lanka as only six ODIs are scheduled for India ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and would want to get better bonding with new support staff led by newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir. Sri Lanka will be the first assignment for Gambhir as a head coach.
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