Rohit Sharma is a busy man these days. After winning the T20 World Cup in West Indies, he came back to India, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was part of the open-bus tour in Mumbai, attended the Wimbledon semifinal between Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and flew straight to the USA from there. In between all this, Mitchell Starc, who was at the receiving end of Rohit's carnage in the World Cup Super-Eight match, spoke about the India captain and the five sixes he was smashed for. Rohit smashing Starc for 29 runs in the over became one of the most talked-about moments of the World Cup, as it was the first time the India captain was batting against Australia since the heartbreak of November 19. And boy, did he make the Aussies pay.
Rohit's taking down of Starc was an assault that was watched by fans across the world, which is why during an event in Dallas, he was interrupted with 'Mitchell Starc' chants. After a certain section of the crowd kept heckling the skipper with chants of his Aussie rival, the presenter intervened, "One second. One second. Guys. Be respectful, please." Still, Rohit's remarks drew the loudest cheers, "Calm down, guys," he said in a typical Rohit-like manner.
Watch the clip below:
Leading India to their second T20 World Cup win and the first in 17 years, Rohit cemented himself as one of the top captains produced in the history of Indian cricket, joining Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni as one of the only three World Cup-winning captains. During this, he became a two-time World Cup winner himself as he was part of the squad that won in South Africa way back in 2007. Since taking over as India's full-time captain, Rohit came close to glory quite a few times – the 2022 T20 World Cup, the 2023 WTC final, and of course, the 2023 ODI World Cup last year at home.
{{/usCountry}}Leading India to their second T20 World Cup win and the first in 17 years, Rohit cemented himself as one of the top captains produced in the history of Indian cricket, joining Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni as one of the only three World Cup-winning captains. During this, he became a two-time World Cup winner himself as he was part of the squad that won in South Africa way back in 2007. Since taking over as India's full-time captain, Rohit came close to glory quite a few times – the 2022 T20 World Cup, the 2023 WTC final, and of course, the 2023 ODI World Cup last year at home.
{{/usCountry}}What next for Rohit Sharma?
However, in what turned out to be Rohit's last T20I venture for India, Rohit put on a show for the ages, emerging as India's highest scorer and the overall second-highest scorer of the World Cup with 257 runs. His brutal punishment of the Australian bowlers which saw pummel a knock of 92 off 47 balls was intent personified. As the tournament progressed, Rohit displayed the layers of his batting. How else can you switch from destruction mode to being watchful yet effective against England in the semifinal? Rohit had class written all over him. It was almost as if he continued from where he had left off in Ahmedabad.
As Rohit announced his retirement from T20 internationals, joining Virat Kohli in the decision, it raised doubts over his future. However, Rohit, 37, brushed all the rumours aside when he said he is not walking away from the game soon. "I just said it. I don't do that far ahead. So clearly, you will be seeing me play for a while," said Rohit at the event.
With India set to play only a handful of ODI games ahead of the Champions Trophy next year, it was expected that Rohit and Kohli would turn up for the Sri Lanka series, but both, along with Jasprit Bumrah, have been given an extended break to recharge their batteries further. India have a packed Test schedule ahead, playing two Tests against Bangladesh, three against Zimbabwe before embarking on Australia for a five-Test series with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the line.