Indian skipper Rohit Sharma with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 trophy
PTI
Barbados: India skipper Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20 Internationals after guiding the team to its second World Cup in the format, describing it as the perfect time to "say goodbye".
This was after his long-time teammate Virat Kohli brought down curtains on his fabled career minutes after India defeated South Africa by seven runs at the Kensington Oval in the final.
Rohit, whose searing 41-ball 92-run knock in the Super 8s clash against Australia would be remembered for years to come, chose the post-match press conference for his statement.
"This was my last game as well. No better time to say goodbye. I wanted this (trophy) badly. It's very hard to put in words," Rohit told the post-match press conference.
"This what I wanted and it happened. I was very desperate for this in my life. Happy that we crossed the line this time," he added.
The 37-year-old had led India in the 2022 T20 World Cup where the team was ousted in the semifinals by eventual champions England.
A year later, India reached the final of the 50-over World Cup at home under his leadership, but succumbed to Australia in the summit clash at Ahmedabad.
Rohit leaves T20Is with 4231 runs from 159 matches, having made five hundreds and 32 fifties. He continues to be active in the Test and ODI formats.
India captain Rohit Sharma has also announced that he is retiring from T20 international cricket. His announcement came after India won the T20 World Cup final match against South Africa.
Rohit with continue to play for India in Test and ODI series but will quit the quick-paced T20 format.
Kohli was delighted for his long-time teammate and skipper Rohit Sharma as the latter grabbed a much-cherished World Cup
In fact, this was Rohit's second T20 world title as he was also a part of the India side that won the trophy in 2007 under the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"It's been a long wait for us to win an ICC tournament. It's not just me alone. You look at someone like Rohit as well. He's played nine T20 World Cups. This is my sixth. So, he deserves it as much as anyone else in the squad."