India opener Rohit Sharma, who announced his retirement from T20Is after leading his side to the World Cup triumph, broke silence on his plans for the longer formats.
Rohit, who took over India’s leadership reigns in all formats from Virat Kohli in 2021, led India to the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup 2022, World Test Championship (2023) and ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 before clinching the T20 World Cup 2024 title.
After India’s astonishing victory over South Africa in the nerve-wracking final, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20Is, following in the footsteps of star batter Virat Kohli.
The right-handed batter, however, did not share his plans for the ODIs and Tests but, two weeks after his T20I retirement, Sharma made it clear that he has no plans to retire from the longer formats yet.
“I just said it, I don’t look that far ahead. So clearly, you will be seeing me play for a while,” Rohit said at an event in the United States of America (USA).
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Rohit Sharma also recalled how India managed to defend the total in the final against South Africa, despite the Proteas, at one stage, needing 30 runs off as many deliveries.
“I was completely blank because I don’t think too far ahead. I focus on the situation. It was important for all of us to stay calm and execute our plans,” said Rohit.
“So when they needed 30 off 30, the pressure was on us and the five overs that we bowled then, it showed we did our job calmly, didn’t panic which was very good from our side,” he added.
Rohit Sharma, who made his T20I debut for India in 2007, represented the nation in 159 matches and accumulated 4231 runs at an average of 32.05 with the help of five centuries and 32 fifties.
Notably, Rohit’s tally of 4231 runs is the highest by any player in Men’s T20Is to date. He also has the most number of centuries to his name in the shortest international format.
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