Rohit Sharma reveals reason behind hanging his boots from T20Is

Star India skipper and opener, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20 International cricket shortly after leading India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Now, for the first time since that decision, Sharma opened up about the decision behind his exit from the game's shortest form.

Making his debut in 2007, he is the only Indian player to be present in every T20 World Cup and ended his T20I career with captaining the victorious 2024 squad. Along with his retirement, star batter Virat Kohli and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also announced their retirement from the format. In a podcast, Sharma revealed the thought process behind his decision. 

"The only reason I retired from T20Is is because I have had my time, I enjoyed playing the format, I played for 17 years, I did well and all of that. Then, you won the (2024) World Cup. This was the best time for me to decide that 'okay, this is now time for me to move on and look after the other things'. There are a lot of good players who can do well for India," he said.

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I just felt this was the right time: Rohit Sharma

The 37-year-old revealed that he could still play the format but it's good to move on from this form of the game and give chances to the coming generation.

"It (decision to quit T20Is) was not because I felt anything. I just felt this was the right time. I could still play all three formats easily. That's why I say fitness is in your mind, how you train your mind," he added.

The Nagpur-born also mentioned that everything is in the mind. He spoke about how to control the mind and have a self-belief while making such a decision.

"I believe everything is in the mind. I am a person who has got a lot of self-belief because I know that I can control my mind when I have to. Sometimes it's not easy. I know most of the time I can do that. If you tell your body that you are young, you can do this, you can do that, (then) of course you can," the India skipper concluded.

In 159 matches, he has scored 4231 runs at an impressive average of 32.05 and a strike rate of 140.89. He has smashed five centuries and 32 half-centuries. After Sharma stepped down, the board announced Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain, with Sharma leading in Test and ODIs.