Within minutes of India lifting the T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli stated his intention to quit T20Is. An hour or so later, his skipper Rohit Sharma followed suit. The picture of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in tears was the perfect representation of how the Indian cricket team and their fans felt after the loss against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final. While both players won World Cups as youngsters in the national set-up, the loss robbed them to the perfect chance to bookend their illustrious careers.
However, there was no such case on Saturday as India defeated South Africa in a thriller to clinch the T20 World Cup 2024 title and the excitement was visible on the experienced duo’s faces. Rohit broke down in tears on the ground while Virat’s fist bumps and aggressive celebration once again provided a sneak peek at his competitive attitude. However, what made the victory bittersweet was the dual announcement that shook Indian cricket.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced retirements from T20 cricket
Within minutes of India lifting the T20 World Cup in Bridgetown on Saturday afternoon, Virat Kohli stated his intention to quit Twenty20 Internationals. An hour or so later, his skipper Rohit Sharma followed suit, almost forced to reveal his hand following a specific query at the post-match press conference. A while later, Ravindra Jadeja joined the two stalwarts in the list of former T20 Internationals, taking to social media to break the news.
None of these retirements is a surprise. Rohit has just turned 37, Kohli will be 36 in November and Jadeja is five and a half months short of his 36th birthday. Each has spent at least a decade and a half representing the country, all are certainties in the other two international formats. A World Cup winner’s medal around their necks means there is nothing more left for them to achieve for the country in T20s. That, allied with the fact that a younger bunch is ready to take over, contributed in no small measure to their calls.
Following India’s victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup final, both Rohit and Kohli confirmed that the match in Barbados against South Africa was their last T20I for Team India.
Rohit and Kohli are the top two run-getters in the T20I format. Rohit ends his career with 4231 runs in 151 innings at a strike rate of 140.89, with five hundreds and fifties. Kohli, meanwhile, amassed 4188 runs in 117 innings at a strike rate of 137.04, with one hundred and 38 half-centuries.
Next assignment for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Certainly T20 franchise cricket, from all indications. There is no sign yet that they are walking away from the 20-over game in its entirety, so their fans still have plenty to look forward to in that regard. But they also have lots to contribute to the national team, given their pre-eminence in both Tests and One-Day Internationals.
India have a crammed 12 and a few months ahead of them, marked by two long and arduous away Test series bookending the 50-over Champions Trophy, tentatively scheduled for February-March, 2025.
India’s next Test assignment is at home against Bangladesh, those two Tests followed by three more against New Zealand before they embark for Australia and five Tests, seeking a hat-trick of series wins Down Under. If they make it to a third successive World Test Championship final in the summer, that will be followed by five Tests in England, where India haven’t clinched a series since 2007.
For Rohit, both as rejuvenated Test opener and captain, therefore, there is so much to target. The T20 World Cup triumph has erased some of the huge disappointment of not going all the way at the 50-over home World Cup last year, but the Champions Trophy is a big carrot dangled in front of him, and the promise of a maiden WTC crown is alluring.
His bat is smoking hot at the moment and he will look to maximize the time left at his disposal internationally while also being grateful, like Virat Kohli, that he can also devote greater attention to a young family.
Virat Kohli’s standing as the best batter of his generation has taken a little bit of a hit, though within the Indian framework, his continues to be the wicket most coveted by the oppositions. He is at that stage of his cricketing life where individual milestones don’t hold the same significance as they once used to, or when compared to collective success, as a unit.
His legacy, like that of Rohit’s, is already firmly established, but he has the enthusiasm, the energy and the hunger to do more, to prepare the next generation for life without Rohit and himself. His intensity is infectious and he continues to be a role model when it comes to fitness and work ethics. He might be done with T20Is, but Kohli isn’t done with cricket. Nor is cricket with Kohli, whose contribution to Indian cricket already far outweighs the scary volume of runs and hundreds.
Virat Kohli was emotional while posing with Rohit Sharma with the Wt20 Trophy and has emotional words for the same.
Virat Kohli on posing with Rohit Sharma and the T20 World Cup trophy
Team India batting star Virat Kohli has said that his picture with skipper Rohit Sharma and the T20 World Cup trophy taken after the Men in Blue’s win in the final is a dedication to Indian cricket. Kohli went on to explain that the two have played together for so many years and he just felt that the occasion demanded a picture of them together with the World Cup trophy.
India beat South Africa by seven runs in the 2024 T20 World Cup final in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday, June 29. Batting first after winning the toss, the Men in Blue put up 176-7 as Virat Kohli top-scored with 76 of 49. In the chase, the Proteas were held to 169-8 as Hardik Pandya (3-20), Jasprit Bumrah (2-18) and Arshdeep Singh (2-18) starred with the ball.
In a video shared on Star Sports’ social media handles, Virat Kohli opened up on his viral picture with Rohit, the T20 World Cup trophy and the tricolor, all in one frame. He said:
“It was a very special thing for him [Rohit] as well. His family is here, Samaira [Rohit’s daughter] was on his shoulder. But I just felt like in the victory lap he was behind the whole time. I told him, you also hold the trophy for a while, for two minutes. We should take a picture together because this journey has been very long.
“Me and him playing together for so many years and just trying out level best to make sure that this happens for India. Captain leader, leader captain, we have just worked for only one thing – that’s Indian cricket. That picture was a dedication to Indian cricket,” the 35-year-old went on to add.
Virat Kohli had struggled with the bat heading into the 2024 T20 World Cup final. However, both Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid had backed him to come up with the goods in the final. And the former India captain didn’t disappoint, hitting six fours and two sixes in a fine knock.