New Delhi, May 24 -- All through April the Indian Premier League (IPL) was in full swing, and then came the cross-border tensions. On either side of that tense week, two of India's greatest World Cup winning batsmen announced their retirement.

Before the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the squad for India's forthcoming tour of England in June, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli decided that the time was right to step away. To retire from a profession, in this case a highly skilled and niche one, is a very personal life event. Yet, it isn't as if millions of fans hadn't voiced pretty strong sentiments in favour of Kohli and Sharma retiring after India lost the away Test series in Australia in November-January.

2024 was a b...