India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, has retired from T20 international cricket following his team’s victory at the T20 World Cup 2024.
India defeated South Africa in the Barbados final, securing their second T20 World Cup title. Rohit Sharma announced his retirement during a post-match press conference soon after teammate Virat Kohli made a similar announcement.
“This was my last [T20I] game, ” Rohit said. “No better time to say goodbye to this format. I’ve loved every moment of this. I started my India career playing this format. This is what I wanted; I wanted to win the cup.”
Rohit Sharma added, “I wanted this badly. It’s hard to express in words. It was a very emotional moment for me. I was very desperate for this title in my life. Happy that we eventually crossed the line.”
Rohit leaves T20 internationals as the format’s top scorer with 4,231 runs in 159 matches, including the most centuries (five). His career highlights include two T20 World Cup titles, the first as a player in 2007 and now as captain in 2024.
Read: Virat Kohli Announces Retirement from T20 Internationals After World Cup Win
Rohit and Kohli’s retirements were expected, as they had not played any T20Is since India’s semi-final loss at the 2022 T20 World Cup. They returned to the format in January this year, focusing on the 2024 T20 World Cup.
As captain, Rohit played 62 matches, scoring 1,905 runs at a strike rate of 149.76 and an average of 34.01. He led India to 49 victories in those matches.
