Former India skipper Rohit Sharma opened up on his emotional hug with Virat Kohli after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup final in Barbados, stating that it symbolized the culmination of nearly a decade of chasing an ICC trophy together and the end of their T20I careers.
In a video shared by Sony TV on X, Rohit shared that both he and Kohli kept striving for a World Cup title from 2015 to 2024, and came close to realizing the dream in 2015 and 2019.
He admitted that the 2023 ODI World Cup final loss on November 19 was painful and hard to remember, but the months that followed motivated their final push.
"From 2015 to 2024, both of us kept chasing that World Cup. We came very close several times, but we couldn’t win it. We came close in 2015, came close again in 2019, and then there’s 2023, I don’t even want to remember it. I want to forget November 19. But then came those six months after that, and I knew that the 2024 T20 World Cup would be my last," Rohit said.
In a candid reflection, Rohit revealed that he and Kohli had already discussed the 2024 T20 World Cup would be their last appearance in the shortest format for India.
Being the senior-most players in the squad, the weight of expectations and years of hard work culminated in that spontaneous, emotional embrace.
“Virat Kohli and I had also discussed that after this, we would retire from T20Is. That’s why the emotions were so overwhelming, because we had worked so hard and chased that World Cup for so many years. Finally, when we won it, at that moment, we didn’t even know what to do. We were just reacting to whatever was happening," Rohit remarked.
Having retired from T20Is in 2024 and Test cricket the following year, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain active only in the ODI format for India.
Both batting stalwarts are keen to play the ODI World Cup in Africa next year. In fact, they made a notable return to the Vijay Trophy during the 2025-26 domestic season to secure essential game time and counter the scarcity of scheduled international ODIs.
Rohit and Kohli will next be in action during the three-match ODI series against the West Indies at home from September 27 to October 3. Subsequently, they will travel to New Zealand for a five-match ODI series in November, followed by three home ODIs against Sri Lanka in December.
