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'Virat Kohli Planned His T20I Retirement Six Months Ago,' Reveals Aakash Chopra

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma with the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy (BCCI)Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma with the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy (BCCI)

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma concurrently announced their T20I retirements on June 29 after Team India defeated South Africa in the final to lift the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados. 

Ageing Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also followed suite by announcing his exit from the format the following day through a social media post.

As it turned out, shortly after their announcements, several social media users as well as cricket experts speculated that the three Indian legends were “forced” to retire from T20Is. Addressing the issue, former Test cricketer Aakash Chopra has decided to speak his mind during an exclusive chat with CREX.


Aakash Chopra quashes ‘forced retirement’ rumors of Kohli

While speaking with CREX, former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra claimed that he does not believe any player will announce their retirement over any kind of media pressure. Moreover, the cricketer-turned-commentator also stated that Virat Kohli had expressed his desire to exit from T20Is back in January this year itself.

Chopra further claimed that Indian captain Rohit Sharma must have held the same mindset, and he praised 35-year-old Ravindra Jadeja for following suite, considering the next T20 World Cup is still two years away.

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired as two of the most prolific run-scorers in T20I history. While Sharma led the Indian team to T20 World Cup glory in his swansong game, Kohli punched out a match-winning 76 to bag the ‘Player of the Match’ award in the final against South Africa.

The two cricketers, as well as Ravindra Jadeja, will continue to prioritize Tests and ODIs for Team India.