 "WATCH: Rohit Sharma joins Virat Kohli in retiring from T20Is after India win World Cup")
Rohit Sharma joined Virat Kohli in announcing his retirement from Twenty20 Internationals after leading his team to victory in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
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Both Rohit and Kohli decided to call it a day as far as representing India in the shortest format is concerned after the Men in Blue defeated South Africa by 7 runs in the final of the T20 World Cup to end an agonising 11-year wait for an ICC title.
Rohit confirmed his decision to step away from the format during the post-match press conference at the Kensington Oval after winning his first ICC title as captain.
Farewell, Rohit Sharma from T20is.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 29, 2024
- Captain, Leader, Legend. 🇮🇳(Video - ICC). pic.twitter.com/95qazwIL4D
“This was my last (T20I) game as well. 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.
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More Shorts“I wanted this badly. Very hard to put 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 told reporters after the final.
Read | We wanted this really bad, says emotional Rohit after helping India end ICC tournament jinx
Kohli had announced his decision earlier during the presentation ceremony at the time of receiving the ‘Player of the Final’ award.
“This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve. One day you feel like you can’t get a run and this happens, God is great. Just the occasion, now or never kind of situation. This was my last T20 game playing for India.
“We wanted to lift that cup. Wanted to Yes I have, this was an open secret. 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 and do wonders as we have seen them do in the IPL. I have no doubts that they will keep the flag waving high and take this team further from here now,” Kohli said during the presentation ceremony.
The two batting stalwarts retire as the leading run-scorers in Twenty20 Internationals — Rohit occupying the top spot 4,231 runs (average: 32.05; strike rate: 140.89) followed closely by Kohli, who signs off with 4,188 runs (average 48.69; strike rate: 137.04).
Just two modern-day legends posing with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Trophy 😊🏆#T20WorldCup | #TeamIndia | #SAvIND | @ImRo45 | @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/AGmPsR7pAK
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 29, 2024
While Rohit was part of the MS Dhoni-led team that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, Kohli would make his debut for India in the shortest format three years later during India’s tour of Zimbabwe in 2010.
Rohit retires from the format as the only Indian to be part of two T20 World Cup triumphs.
The two had stepped away from the format for more than a year after India’s humiliating 10-wicket defeat at the hands of England in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Adelaide.
Both Kohli and Rohit, however, were brought back into the T20I fold after India’s stellar run to the final in last year’s ODI World Cup at home, with the two stalwarts finishing as the highest run-scorers in the tournament. Rahul Dravid’s tenure as head coach was also extended till the T20 World Cup after it was originally supposed to end with the conclusion of the 50-over World Cup.
WATCH | Rahul Dravid unleashes his emotions with passionate T20 World Cup trophy celebration
Rohit finished the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup as the second highest run-scorer (257) while Kohli managed to overcome a horror run with the bat by shining in the final, scoring 76 off 59 balls at the Kensington Oval after collecting just 75 in the previous seven innings.
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