India, March 12 -- When celebrating with Virat Kohli with stumps moments after leading India to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 title, captain Rohit Sharma said, "Are hum koi retire nahi ho rahe hai, (We are not retiring)." It was addressed at the photographers lined up to capture Rohit and Kohli's celebration on the pitch side as if it was their last. It wasn't. But the world was yet to know. A few minutes later, Rohit made sure everyone did. At the end of the post-final press conference, Rohit announced, "One more thing, I'm not going to retire from this format, just to make sure no more rumours are spread."

It was a statement. He has been making a few of those in the white-ball format since adopting a completely different style of batti...