India captain Rohit Sharma cleared the air on his rumoured retirement plans by telling journalists at the post-match press conference that he has no plans to retire.
“One more thing: I’m not going to retire from this format. Just to make sure that no rumours are spread moving forward,” Rohit Sharma said at the end of the press conference on Sunday after he had guided India to its third Champions Trophy title. Thanks to a 76 from him at the top of the innings, India chased down New Zealand’s 252-run target with an over to spare and four wickets in hand.
In the previous games, Rohit Sharma had been losing his wicket after getting starts for India as he tried to bully the opening bowlers of opposition teams. That approach clicked on Sunday in the final, when India needed it to work the most.
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“I did the same thing today (as I did in previous games). I wanted to score in powerplay and once the field spreads out it becomes difficult. So you have to take chances at the top. I pick the bowlers and the spots to hit. You may not see consistency in terms of scores, but I know what I’m doing. I changed my game after 10 overs. But when the team wins you feel happy. In 2019 World Cup I had a good run but we didn’t win the title. It didn’t make me happy,” Rohit said at the press conference.
India captain Rohit Sharma and teammates celebrate with the winners trophy on the podium after defeating New Zealand in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. (AP Photo)
Earlier at the post-match presentation, Rohit had also spoken about his approach.
“It’s not natural to me (batting aggressively in the last two ICC ODI events) but it’s something I wanted to do. When you’re trying something different, you need the team’s and management’s backing, which I had. During the ODI World Cup, I spoke to Rahul bhai about it, and he was supportive, as is Gauti bhai now. It’s about getting that backing from the team and management. Having the batting depth makes it much easier and gives me freedom. The results won’t always be consistent, but it’s fine as long as it serves the team’s purpose.”