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Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from T20I cricket following India’s historic victory at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The Men in Blue secured their second T20 World Cup title after a 17-year gap, marking their first ICC trophy in 11 years.
Rohit Sharma initially triumphed in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 as a player and repeated his success as captain in 2024. Virat Kohli’s international career highlights include winning the ICC ODI World Cup 2011, Champions Trophy 2013, and now the T20 World Cup 2024.
Both captains faced challenging moments in their leadership roles. Rohit led India to defeats in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final, the WTC 2023 final, and the 2023 ODI World Cup final. Kohli experienced setbacks in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final, and the T20 World Cup 2021.
Reflecting on their T20I careers, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag, in a conversation with Cricbuzz, empathized with the emotions of players who gave their all in the tournament, noting their tears of joy after such a monumental victory.
“This win means a lot for Rohit and Kohli. Very few players win trophies in the early stage of their careers. Players actually won titles in the fag end of their careers. When Kohli won the 2011 World Cup it was still early days in his career. In between he did not win any World Cup. Yes we did win the ICC Champions Trophy in between, but Kohli did not win an ICC title in between. ” said Sehwag.
“This win is invaluable for Rohit and Kohli. Since the last few years, they were playing to win an ICC World Cup title which eventually happened with this T20 World Cup win. When it finally happened that is when they had tears in their eyes which is very normal for someone who has played for over 15 years” added the former Indian cricketer.
Virender Sehwag reminisced about India’s 2011 World Cup triumph, recalling how he scored a duck in that game. Nonetheless, he vividly remembered the jubilant atmosphere in the dressing room following the victory.
“India’s 2024 win made me remember the 2011 World Cup winning days. My contribution was zero in the final match apart from fielding for the 50 overs but I was very emotional after the World Cup win as every player in the team had tears in their eyes and those are happy tears and hence it does not stop even if you try to stop them” recollected Sehwag.
Virender Sehwag – Congratulations To Rohit Sharma And The Full Team
Sehwag emphasized that both players were deserving of the trophy, particularly Rohit Sharma, who led the team to multiple finals but unfortunately ended up on the losing side.
“Both of them deserved to win the trophy, more so Rohit Sharma. Since he took over captaincy, he took India to the finals but never won any. He finally managed to end the trophy drought for India. Hats off to Rohit Sharma and the full team” Sehwag concluded saying.
Rohit and Kohli have announced their retirement from T20I cricket but will continue playing ODIs and Tests.
