Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli to take back T20I retirement? BCCI President Roger Binny makes 'difficult to replace' remark on batters

On June 29, 2024, the Indian cricket team silenced its critics in style by ending their more than decade-long drought of the ICC trophy. India crushed South Africa by seven runs in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final to win their first coveted trophy in the last 11 years on Saturday in Barbados.

Team India won their second T20 World Cup after 17 years, but this historic triumph brought a heartbreaking announcement for the fans as well. India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph turned bittersweet as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from T20I cricket.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retire after India's T20 World Cup 2024 win

Kohli, speaking to Harsha Bhogle while receiving the Player of the Match award, confirmed that this T20 World Cup was the last one for India as well as the last T20I match of his career. On the other hand, Rohit announced his retirement after celebrating India’s memorable title win in the post-match presser.

Now, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Roger Binny has reacted to the not-so-surprising announcements made by the legendary batters of the modern era. Binny admitted that it is a big loss for Indian cricket, and it won’t be easy at all to replace Kohli and Rohit.

The BCCI president mentioned that it will take two to three years for the Indian cricket team to bridge the void left by the batting stalwarts, but expressed hope that they will be able to get some talented players from the Indian Premier League (IPL) to fill their shoes.

It is going to be a great loss for Indian cricket: Roger Binny on Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma's retirement from T20I cricket

According to PTI and ANI, Roger Binny said during a media interaction in Barbados: “They have been outstanding...it is going to be very difficult to replace them immediately...it is going to be a great loss at the moment. They have contributed so much. Hopefully, we should get some young cricketers through the IPL.

There is so much talent in the IPL. Lot of cricketers are coming through but it is going to take some time to bridge the gap. They have contributed so much. It's not going to be easy but we can try and get some young cricketers to do what they have done. We will probably see in the next two-three years, the team coming back into its own without them.”

Binny also lauded Rahul Dravid, saying he has been a fantastic cricketer and that his contribution to the team as head coach has been tremendous because of the experience he brought to the table. The BCCI president noted that Dravid really did a fantastic job as a coach. However, Binny felt for Dravid for losing the ODI World Cup 2023 at home.

Notably, Rohit and Kohli retired as the top two run-scorers in T20I cricket. Rohit amassed 4,231 runs in 151 T20I matches at an average of 32.05, including five centuries and 32 fifties.

On the other hand, Kohli amassed 4,188 runs at an impressive average of 48.69, with one century and 38 half-centuries to his name in 125 T20I matches for the Indian team. However, they will be active in ODI and Test cricket as well as in the IPL.