Is Rohit Sharma Going to Retire from All Forms of Cricket? Let’s Find Out the Facts…

With the defeat in the ODI World Cup final match on home soil, social media was flooded with posts about the Indian cricket team. Many such posts are misleading. This is our investigation related to one such post about the captain of the current Indian ODI & Test Cricket team, Rohit Sharma.

Social Media Posts

Viral social media posts tried to imply Sharma would retire from all forms of cricket. The post published as breaking news suggested that the sports website ‘sportskreeda’ had published this news, as seen below.

Facebook | Archived

We noticed that another website, cricketception.wixsite.com, published a story titled 'Sharma hangs up his boots; Kohli snubs BCCI’s Test captaincy Pandya to take charge of white ball cap' using a photo of Kushan Sarkar, a PTI cricket writer, which also gained high traction, creating confusion among fans.

We decided to do a fact-check on this.

Fact Check

We checked Rohit’s social handles and for any recent statements about retirement plans from the entire international cricket, but we did not come across any such notices.

Furthermore, no mainstream media or credible sources, including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), have reported any notice related to Rohit Sharma's retirement plans.

‘Sportskreeda’ Post Misused To Create the Fabricated Post.

Then, we checked any sports related to retirement notices associated with Rohit Sharma on the ‘Sportskreeda’ social handles. We noticed this post: "Rohit Sharma is unlikely to play T20 internationals anymore. He had discussed his future in the shortest format of the game before the start of the ODI World Cup. Does this mean, no Hitman at the T20 World Cup?” Archived

However, the ‘Sportskreeda’ website had not published any posts regarding Rohit’s retirement from all formats. They had clarified that their logo had been misused in creating the fake news of the Indian icon’s retirement from all formats of international cricket. More details about this can be read here | Archived

It's also important to note that the mainstays of Indian batting, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, had not played T20s since India’s semi-final exit in the T20 World Cup in 2022. This decision is seen as a strategic move, given the presence of several young and proven performers in the IPL who are contenders for the opening spots. While Hardik Pandya led the Indian side in most T20 internationals in the recent past, the ongoing series against Australia is led by Suryakumar Yadav.

Furthermore, during a recent interview with Sportskeeda, Pakistani cricketing legend Wasim Akram talked about the importance of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the Indian cricket setup, even in the T20 setup. He was quoted as saying, “The T20 World Cup is happening within six months from now. I will pick both of them (Rohit and Virat). They will be the main players for India right now, both Virat and skipper Rohit. You need a bit of experience in T20. Saarey young bachchey nahi rakh sakte aap (You can't keep only the youngsters).”

While Rohit Sharma may not be playing in the T20 format to manage his workload, there is no confirmation of his retirement from all formats of international cricket. Speaking to Times Now, a BCCI source had recently stated that “Rohit and Virat can play T20s and the T20 World Cup next year if they want”. The full article can be reached here.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, the claim that Rohit Sharma has retired from all formats of international cricket is false. While Rohit Sharma has not appeared in the T20 format for India recently, there is no confirmation of his retirement from all formats of international cricket.