(Web Desk) - Indian captain Rohit Sharma has announced that the T20 World Cup final triumph against South Africa was his last in the format. Rohit confirmed the same in the post-match press conference.
“This is my last game as well, no better time to say goodbye to this format. I’ve loved every moment of this. I started my career for India playing this format and this is what I wanted, I wanted to win the World Cup,” Rohit said.
Emotional on the back of India’s first ICC tournament win in 11 years, Rohit added, “I am completely lost and can’t say what kind of emotions I am going through. Can’t explain it in words. Let this sink in. Last night, I couldn’t sleep as I was desperate and wanted it so badly. But I managed myself well inside the ground.”
The 37-year-old becomes only the third Indian captain to have won a World Cup – across formats – after Kapil Dev (1983) and MS Dhoni (2007 and 2011).
The Indian skipper has now become the first-ever captain to lead a team to 50 T20I games. The 50th triumph being the World Cup final against South Africa.
Rohit took over India’s captaincy in the shortest format after the underwhelming outing from the team in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
In his first outing as captain in T20 World Cup, Rohit had led the team to the semifinal in Australia two years back. It was a campaign that ended with a comprehensive defeat against England.
Under Rohit, India have also become the first team to win the T20 World Cup without losing a single game. It brings to an end the infamous ICC trophy drought of over 11 years.
Rohit’s announcement comes after former India skipper Virat Kohli also announced that this was his last World Cup in the shortest format for India.
“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,” Kohli, who was the player of the match in the final, had said in the post-match press conference.