BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — Barely an hour after guiding India to a thrilling seven-run victory over South Africa in the Twenty20 World Cup final, Rohit Sharma joined fellow star batter Virat Kohli in announcing his retirement from international T20 matches.
“This was my last game as well,” Sharma said at the press conference after Saturday’s final which broke a 13-year long drought for India at major tournaments. “No better time to say goodbye to this format.”
Sharma, 37, is the format’s highest scorer with 4231 runs in 159 matches for India, with five centuries. Saturday’s breakthrough win was his second T20 World Cup success after winning the inaugural tournament in 2007.
He has played in every T20 World Cup tournament since, with only Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan doing likewise.
“I’ve loved every moment of this. I started my India career playing this format,” Sharma said. “This is what I wanted, I wanted to win the cup and say thank you.”
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