Hyderabad: India's World Cup-winning captain Rohit Sharma asserted that his and Gautam Gambhir's partnership will take Indian cricket to its paramount at the International level. Apart from this, he also said that he still feels that he can put his pads on anytime for the shortest format of the game and laughed.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a video on their social media account featuring India's former T20I captain, Rohit Sharma, who had announced his retirement from the T20 international format during the post-match press conference after the T20 World Cup final against South Africa. However, Rohit will continue to lead the Indian cricket team in ODIs and Test matches.
Following the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in 2024, Rahul Dravid completed his extended tenure as the head coach of the Indian cricket team. Subsequently, BCCI announced that former Indian batsman and member of the T20 and ODI World Cup-winning teams, Gautam Gambhir, would serve as the head coach until the 2027 ODI World Cup.
India's tour to Sri Lanka for the three-match ODI series in the Island nation will mark as the first assignment for Rohit-Gambhir partnership together. The Men in Blue will play their first ODI on August 2 at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
In the video, Rohit said, "It's time to get back on the field and make a new beginning with a new era and a new coach. A partnership that is going to hold Indian cricket as Paramount."
"It's time to hit the reset button and the time has come for us to get back on the field with the same energy and with the same passion. Team India steps on the field for one more time with some new and with some well-known faces. This is team India and this is your captain Rohit Sharma speaking, let's go," added he.
The former Mumbai Indians (MI) captain expressed his feelings about the T20 World Cup triumph and its celebration in Mumbai and mentioned that he still feels that he can play T20Is anytime soon. "Wow. What a month it was. It was fun. Flooded with memories, itched in history, a moment like this that will stay with us for our entire life," said India's ODI and Test format captain."
"So much so that it still feels that I can put my pads on anytime for the shortest format. No yaar, leave it, I had my time, I enjoyed it and it's time to move on," he added.
The 37-year-old finished his T20I career being the player to hit joint-most centuries and runs in the shortest format of the game. He has five hundred and 4231 runs under his belt in T20I cricket. He also holds the record for hitting most - 205 sixes in the format and is the only cricketer to surpass the 200-six mark.
