Rohit Sharma drew curtains on his T20I career after leading Team India to the T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year in the Caribbean. Under his leadership, the Indian cricket team ended a decade-long drought of ICC titles. Immediately after lifting the trophy, Rohit announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game.
People may think that his age could be a factor behind his retirement from T20Is. However, the Indian captain said he felt that calling it quit on a high and post-World Cup victory was the ‘perfect’ time to do it.
Speaking with fitness influencer Jitendra Chouskey on the latter’s YouTube channel FITTR, Rohit said he could very well play all three formats but he has had his time and now, the younger generation should get the opportunity to do well for India.
“The only reason I retired from T20Is was I have had my time. I enjoyed playing the format. I played it for 17 years. We won the World Cup and that was the best time for me to decide that, ‘Okay. It’s time to move on and look after other things,” Rohit said.
“There are several talented players who can do well for India. I just felt that was the right time. I could still play all three formats for India easily. That’s why I said, fitness is in your mind. I’m a person with self-belief. I can control my mind when I have to. Sometimes it is not easy but most of the time I can do that,” he added.
‘I’m Still Young’
Rohit Sharma took a little pause when he was speaking about cricketers’ mentality of dealing with dealing with different situations on the field. He said, “When I was young,” and stopped with a smile on his face saying, “I’m still young.”
I don’t think I have practiced for that or I have thought about it. It’s just there. I believe that even when I was young… I’m still young,” Rohit said.
“What I am saying is when I was 10 years old, 15 years old, there was a situation where you had to make a decision. There are a lot of runs that you have to chase. So, you know your partner will come with different advice. Even then, my response to that used to be like, OK, let’s see ball by ball, let’s see ball by ball, let’s not go too far ahead.
“Rather think about, OK, he is coming now, what are we going to do now? So, it was there since then, you know, I was always like that. I don’t know. I mean I have never trained for it. You can’t train for all this. It is what is there in you. Some things are naturally built in you, naturally there in you. And I think this is one of the things which was there,” he added.
Fitness is the Key
The Indian captain said to have longevity in sports, there are 3 to 4 aspects an athlete has to follow and fitness is one of them.
“To play for 17 years, and, I’m close to 500 international games now for India. Not a lot of cricketers across the globe have done that. To have that longevity, there has to be something about your routine. It’s all about how you manage your fitness, train yourself and get yourself ready for the game.
“Ultimately, our job is to be 100% ready for the game. And when you see the preparation, there comes fitness, recovery and nutrition. And also, what do you do in your off time? So for me to be game-ready, I have to manage these aspects,” he added.
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