It’s been over a month since Rohit Sharma bid adieu to the shortest format of the game. The farewell couldn’t have been more of a fairytale for one of India’s celebrated white-ball cricketers as he ended his T20I career with World Cup glory. While he has moved on from T20Is, Rohit remains an integral part of India’s ODI setup and retains his captaincy as the team builds towards their next cycle. The upcoming three-match series against Sri Lanka will be Rohit’s first international game since the memorable T20 World Cup final. However, the 37-year-old revealed that the reality of his retirement from T20s is yet to sink in.
“No difference. I played the format, loved playing the format. I did what I had to do. Now, I’m pretty happy looking forward to the Test and ODI format,” said Rohit at the pre-match press conference.
“I actually don’t know. Till now, I have been feeling like I have been rested for T20s, like it used to happen in the past. And then, there is a big tournament coming up and we will need to get ready for T20s again. I still feel it is like that so I don’t think I am completely out of the format (laughs).”
Having been an all-format player-cum-captain for the last few years, Rohit had a lot on his plate, both physically and mentally. His workload was managed with the occasional rest between certain white-ball series, but with India’s packed international calendar, there weren’t many phases for the opening batter to recharge himself completely. Since the start of 2023, India had big games across all three formats including World Cups in both white-ball formats and a World Test Championship final.
While glory eluded them in the Test format and ODIs, silverware in the T20 World Cup was a timely reward for Rohit’s men. When asked about how the break since retirement has given him time to recharge, Rohit admitted that it was a much-needed period of relaxation.
“Personally, I have had a good time. Good off time from cricket for a bit. You know after winning the World Cup, it was a great feeling to come back home and experience what we experienced in Delhi and Mumbai. But yes now, as you know, now we have to move on, cricket moves on. That is what happened after the ’23 ODI World Cup as well, there was a lot of disappointment but we had to move on and look forward to this T20 World Cup.”
“Now that the T20 world cup is over, we have to look forward, and start thinking about what lies ahead for us as a team. Ya, that is a big tournament coming up and plenty to look forward to. Personally, for me as well, I am happy with where I am, how I have prepared myself every time I have come to play a series, this is no different for me. So yep, we have had a good three days here and another day to look forward to under a new coaching staff which is quite exciting.”
Under the new leadership of head coach Gautam Gambhir, India began their new era with a thrilling 3-0 T20I series win over Sri Lanka. Newly appointed T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav also showcased his leadership skills triumphantly. Reflecting on India’s ‘new era,’ Rohit refrained from jumping to conclusions about Suryakumar’s captaincy due to the limited sample size.
“It’s early days and I don’t want to talk too much about it. He’s done his work well and let him do his work well. We should all be calm. We all consistently jump too quickly onto things on whether we win or if we lose. Let him consistently do well and we can relaxingly talk about it.”
“It’s definitely a good start for them in that format. They played really well, played well as a unit which was really good and that is what Team India is all about, playing together as a team. And I’m sure the team is heading in the right direction.”
Rohit also expressed his excitement about starting a captain-coach relationship with Gambhir, as the duo had been teammates at one point in time.
. However, at that time, both were at contrasting phases of their cricketing careers. Delving into his bond with Gambhir, Rohit felt that their established camaraderie should help the side during this period of transition.
“Gautam Gambhir has played a lot of cricket firstly and he has been involved with a franchise team as well sitting at the top. Like I said, it’s obviously going to be different compared to the previous coaching staff. Every human, every individual is different. When Rahul Dravid joined the team, we had Ravi Shastri, so every individual works differently. I’m sure I know Gautam Gambhir for a long time now, we have played a little bit of cricket together and we have had a lot of chats together in the past. Now that he is here, he has got a very clear mind on what he wants to do with the team which is very good. We don’t want to plan too far ahead. We’re here to play three games so the goal/idea is to try to take something back from these three games. Try and learn a lot about how we want to play ODI cricket and what we want to achieve in ODI cricket so it’s very exciting times.”
Rohit, however, refused to consider the three ODIs against Sri Lanka as ‘practice’ for the team’s vision towards the 2025 Champions Trophy. While he acknowledged that exposure in the format in the lead-up to an ICC event is paramount, Rohit maintained that there wouldn’t be any let-up in intensity. The captain stressed the need to balance rotation without compromising on the intent to win games.
“See, we get asked questions like these a lot. The World Cup is coming, is this preparation for the World Cup? The Champions Trophy is coming, is this preparation for the Champions Trophy? See, it’s not a practice ground this, it’s still an international game. We will keep in mind what we would like to achieve as a team but this is by no means preparation or practice or anything like that. We want to come here and play good cricket and get something out of the series, it is as simple as that. We don’t want to think about ‘let’s try this, let’s try that’. Of course, we want to try everything possible but sometimes you got to understand when you’re representing the nation, the quality of the cricket you want to play should remain the way it is and how we have played our cricket in the last few years. I think that is more important, more than thinking about it as preparation so let us go out and chill in Colombo.”
Much like India’s new T20I setup, there is a lot of mystery surrounding India’s possible playing XI and plans going forward in ODI cricket. During the period he was out of international cricket with a life-threatening injury, Rishabh Pant’s spot in the side was taken by KL Rahul, who went on to have an impressive phase as the wicket-keeper bat for India, slotting in seamlessly at the important no.5 position. Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, also strengthened his position at no.4 with a splendid World Cup campaign at home.
While Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to complete the top 7 being allrounders, their absence from the series might open up a spot for Pant. At full strength, India will find it difficult to accommodate everyone in the XI, setting up a straight shootout between Pant and Rahul for one spot. The Delhi left-hander boasts strong numbers in the lead-up to his injury, and his unconventional batting ability is something Gambhir and the think tank will find difficult to ignore. When asked about this topic, Rohit just shrugged off the debate and termed the competition for spots as a healthy sign for Indian cricket. Regardless of who misses out, the skipper agreed that the decision wouldn’t be an easy one to make.
“Ya, absolutely. It is a tough call, both are quality players. You know the abilities of both players, it is not easy to pick a player when you have good quality like that. That is what these two individuals are all about, they are match winners in their own way and they have won a lot of games for us in the past. It is always nice to have problems picking the team like that. When you are discussing too much about who to pick and who not to, that means there is quality in the squad. I think it is a good thing to have these kinds of problems, and I look forward to these kinds of problems while I’m captain. (smiling)”