Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Retire from T20 Cricket After Winning World Cup
Bridgetown [Barbados], June 30: In a surprising turn of events, Indian cricket stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have both retired from T20 cricket after winning the T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma, who started his T20I career with India’s victory in the 2007 World Cup, has now come full circle by retiring after this latest win.
Rohit, who has been the captain for over two years, announced his retirement from the T20 format but confirmed he will continue to play in Test and ODI formats. This announcement came shortly after Virat Kohli declared his own retirement from T20 international cricket.
“This was my last game as well,” Rohit said in his post-match press conference, referring to Kohli’s earlier announcement. “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 added, receiving applause from the media.
Rohit dedicated the T20 World Cup victory to coach Rahul Dravid, praising his contributions to Indian cricket over the past 20-25 years. “What he has done for Indian cricket for the past 20, 25 years, this was the only thing left. I am very happy on behalf of the entire team that we could do this for him,” Rohit said.
He also praised his teammates, especially bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah, and the retiring Virat Kohli. “I am very lucky to have players like this in my squad, players who are playing for me and Team India – really, really grateful and thankful as well,” he added.
When asked if this was the pinnacle of his career, Rohit acknowledged it as one of the top moments. “This has to be the greatest time. I can say that. It’s only because of how desperately I wanted to win this. All the runs that I’ve scored in all these years, it does matter but I’m not big on stats and all of that. Winning games for India, winning trophies for India – that is what I look forward to all the time,” Rohit said.
Rohit, who scored 4231 runs in 159 games and holds the record for most hundreds (five) in T20 internationals, has won two T20 World Cups: the first in 2007 and the current one in 2024 as captain.