Team India will soon have a new permanent captain in T20Is after Rohit Sharma retired from the shortest format of the game. The veteran batsman announced his retirement from T20Is after leading India to victory in the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
India, on Saturday (June 30), beat South Africa by 7 runs in the final to win the T20 World Cup for the second time. In a nail-biting game, India scored 176 for 7 in 20 overs after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first. The Men in Blue were reeling at 34 for 3 at one stage before bouncing back thanks to Virat Kohli’s brilliant knock of 76 runs.
In reply, South Africa finished their innings at 169 for 8. The Proteas were cruising at one stage but failed to cross the finishing line. They were at 151 for 4 after 16 overs with a well-positioned Heinrich Klaasen in the middle after scoring a blistering fifty. However, India’s bowlers put in a remarkable effort in the last four overs to take India home.
India’s new captain will be appointed soon:
Soon after the victory in the final, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20Is. In a post-match press conference, the veteran batsman confirmed that he would bring down the curtain on his illustrious career after leading India to glory in the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup.
Now that Rohit has retired, the BCCI will have to appoint a new captain soon. And according to a report in Sports Tak, Rohit’s replacement will be named after him after next month’s five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. For the tour of Zimbabwe, the selectors have picked a young team and appointed Shubman Gill as captain.
Once the series is over, the BCCI will announce the name of the new India T20I captain. The report further claimed that the BCCI would take the call after consulting the new head coach. The T20 World Cup was also Rahul Dravid’s last assignment as the head coach and his replacement will also be named soon. Former India opener Gautam Gambhir is reportedly the favourite to become the new coach.
Last year, Hardik Pandya was leading the team when Rohit was not part of the T20I team. Even for the World T20, Pandya was the vice-captain of the team. Pandya played a key role in India’s triumph and it would not be surprising if he was named permanent T20I captain.
