As Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli bowed out of the T20 Internationals following the T20 World Cup win in the Caribbean, former India all-rounder Suresh Raina has requested the BCCI to retire their jersey numbers – 18 and 45 – in the shortest format of the game. The men in blue scripted history last week as they defeated South Africa in the T20 World Cup final in Barbados to be crowned as the World Champions. Virat Kohli top-scored in the crucial game and bagged the Player of the Match Award for his phenomenal knock under pressure.
Rohit, on the other hand, couldn’t contribute much with the bat and was dismissed early but he ended the tournament as the second-highest scorer with 257 runs in 8 matches. But after registering a thrilling win over the Proteas, both stalwarts of Indian cricket drew curtains on their T20I careers.
Speaking on Jio Cinema, Raina requested the BCCI to retire jerseys no. 18 and 45 so that the coming generation gets inspired by it.
“I request the BCCI to retire jerseys No.18 and No.45. They need to have a special occasion where they keep these jersey numbers in their office. The number 7 is already retired, they should do the same for 18 and 45. Every person who sees the number should get motivated,” Raina said.
“The numbers 18 and 45 have won India games from so many situations that whichever player comes into the team, they should feel motivated by just looking at these numbers,” he added.
But before Rohit announced it, Virat Kohli gave a shock to his fans, saying that it was his last T20I game and the last World Cup for India. Both stalwarts bowed out as the top two run-getters of the format. Rohit ended his T20I career as the highest scorer in the world with 4231 runs while Kohli is next to him with 4188 runs.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Sunday announced his retirement from T20 Internationals, joining his illustrious teammates Kohli and Rohit.
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