Team India legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from T20I Cricket after winning the T20I World Cup 2024. Both announced after India’s seven-run victory against South Africa in the final of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli announced it after he was awarded the Player of the Match for his 59-ball 76 in his last T20I which helped India lift its second World T20 title while Rohit Sharma confirmed his decision in the press conference afterwards.
CHAMPION vibes all around 🏆
These Two 🫶🤗#T20WorldCup | #TeamIndia | #SAvIND | @ImRo45 | @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/SXTkzdNcJX
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 29, 2024
“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,” said Rohit Sharma. “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.” He had earlier dedicated the T20 World Cup triumph to coach Rahul Dravid – with gratitude for his contribution to the sport. “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.” And he could not praise his players highly enough, mentioning the retiring Virat Kohli, and his bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah in particular. “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.” Asked if it was the best moment of his career, Rohit agreed it was certainly up there with the highlights thus far. “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, who made his T20I debut in the inaugural T20 World Cup, against England in Durban in 2007, played 159 matches for India, scoring 4231 runs to end his career as the highest run-getter in the format for his country. He scored five hundreds, including a career-best 121 not out against Afghanistan earlier this year, to go with his 32 half-centuries. He also ended his career as the most successful T20I captain, with 50 wins (including Super Over/bowl-out victories), two more than Pakistan’s Babar Azam. During the T20 World Cup 2024, Rohit Sharma was the second highest run scorer with 257 runs to his name at a healthy strike rate of 156.70 and an average of 36.71.
It's your Captain Rohit Sharma signing off from T20Is after the #T20WorldCup triumph! 🏆
He retires from the T20I cricket on a very special note! 🙌 🙌
Thank you, Captain! 🫡#TeamIndia | @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/NF0tJB6kO1
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 29, 2024
Earlier, speaking to the official broadcaster after winning the player of the match award, Kohli said: “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.
“Yes I have [announced my retirement from T20Is], this was an open secret. It was not something that I wasn’t going to announce even if we had lost. It’s time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward. It’s been a long wait for us, waiting to win an ICC tournament. You look at someone like Rohit [Sharma], he’s played nine T20 World Cups and this is my sixth. He deserves it.” “Yes, I have. This was an open secret, it was not something that I was not going to announce if we’d lost,” Kohli said when asked to confirm he was retiring. “This was going to be my last T20 World Cup playing for India, it’s time for the next generation to take over. Two-year cycle, there are some amazing players playing in India, they’re going to take the team forward in the T20 format, and do wonders as we’ve seen them do in the IPL. I’ve no doubts they’ll keep the flag waving high, and really take this team further from here now.”
💬💬 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝟮𝟬 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗽: Virat Kohli
King Kohli bids adieu to the T20I format in style and mutual admiration for Captain Rohit Sharma 👏 🫡
Take A Bow on that glorious T20I career! 🙌#T20WorldCup | #TeamIndia | #SAvIND | @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/xqur8qmHDF
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 29, 2024
Virat Kohli, who made his T20I debut in June 2010, featured in 125 games for India in the format and scored 4188 runs, which included one century and 38 half-centuries. He won two Player of the Tournament awards in the T20 World Cups of 2014 and 2016. Kohli finished as the second-highest run-getter in T20Is, behind Rohit Sharma. He had endured a difficult T20 World Cup up until the semi-final – scoring only 75 runs in seven innings before he made 76 off 59 balls in the final.
The celebrations have begun in Barbados 🥳
A round of applause for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 winning side – Team INDIA 🇮🇳🙌#T20WorldCup | #TeamIndia | #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/OElawo7Xha
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 29, 2024
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