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Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey spoke candidly about the unexpected retirement announcements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja from T20Is after the T20 World Cup 2024. He revealed that the trio’s decisions came as a surprise to everyone, including the dressing room, as there had been no prior discussions about their intentions.
Following India’s triumph in the T20 World Cup 2024, it marked the conclusion of an illustrious chapter in Indian cricket, with Sharma, Kohli, and Jadeja opting to retire from international cricket in the shortest format shortly after securing the title.
The announcement took many by surprise, as few anticipated the trio would retire from the format at this stage. Virat Kohli was the first to reveal his decision during the post-match presentation after winning the Player of the Match award, expressing that he believed it was time for the younger generation to step up.
Shortly afterward, during a press conference, captain Rohit Sharma echoed Kohli’s sentiments, declaring that the World Cup final marked his final appearance in T20Is, fulfilling his ambition to secure the trophy and bid farewell to the shortest format of the game.
Adding to the surprise, Ravindra Jadeja took to Instagram the following day to announce his retirement from T20Is. The simultaneous retirement of these three cricketing legends from the format left fans feeling unexpectedly disheartened.
Reflecting on this, Paras Mhambrey, the former bowling coach of India during the T20 World Cup 2024, disclosed that neither Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, nor Ravindra Jadeja had discussed their retirement plans beforehand. He underscored the significance of Kohli’s journey, noting that winning the World Cup in 2011 and achieving it once more in 2024 marked a profound completion for him. Mhambrey shared these insights in an interview with Hindustan Times.
“I think no one was expecting that (the retirement announcements). If you had any conversation earlier, we would have known this would be coming. But none of them had this conversation. If, individually or privately, they had a conversation with someone like Rahul (Dravid), that’s a different thing, but not amongst the team or other individuals. So that was a little surprising for us as well,”
“Virat was a part of the 2011 World Cup. And not to win a World Cup since 2011 must have been big. He wanted that badly. So obviously, when you go through a journey to achieve something you wanted so badly for years, sometimes as a player, you feel that journey is complete in that format and that you really can’t get better.”
Paras Mhambrey elaborated on the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja, mentioning that the three stalwarts had reached a juncture where they had to choose their preferred formats. He also shed light on the reasons behind their collective decision.
“After winning the T20 World Cup, especially the stage that their careers are in… they’re no longer young. You’ve got to sometimes choose. You have to decide what formats you’re going to play and cut down the cricket to focus on a particular format because age is not on your side.
The experience and skills are there, but still, you’ve got to be smart. And I think that’s one of the reasons they must have done that because they couldn’t gone on a bigger high than winning the World Cup,” he concluded.
Rohit Sharma concluded his T20I career as the highest run-scorer of all time, amassing 4231 runs. As captain, he notched up five centuries, the most by any batsman in T20I history, along with 32 half-centuries, maintaining an impressive career strike rate of 140. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli compiled 4188 runs at an average of 48.69 and a strike rate of 137.04. Ravindra Jadeja, known for his all-round prowess, retired with 54 wickets from his 74 T20I appearances.
