Sydney: Having been appointed India’s captain back in 2021 at the age of 34, Rohit Sharma on Sunday clinched his second ICC title - following the ICC Men's T20 World Cup win last year - as India closed an invincible Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai.
Now approaching 38, there were talks around the Indian skipper’s retirement from the ODI format, an act not without precedence, given how Rohit had retired from T20Is after winning the T20 World Cup.
But Rohit quashed them in the press conference following the final win against New Zealand.
“One more thing, I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure no more rumours are spread,” Rohit told reporters after a Player-of-the-Match performance.
Speaking with host Crystal Arnold on The ICC Review, former Australia skipper Ponting stated that Rohit is likely to have had a specific goal in mind when he made the announcement.
“When you start getting to that point of your career, everyone's waiting for you to retire,” Ponting said.
“And I don't know why, when you can still play as well as he's played (in the final), I think he was just trying to put those questions to bed once and for all and say, ‘no, I'm still playing well enough. I love playing in this team. I love leading this team," he said.
“And I think, the fact that he said that, to me, it means that he must have that goal in mind of playing in the next (50-over) World Cup (in 2027),” he said.
India hosted the last Men’s Cricket World Cup, and had an exceptional run under Rohit’s leadership.
However, the side fell at the final stage, having been dealt a six-wicket defeat at the hands of the Pat Cummins-led Australia in the summit clash.
Ponting believes that a sense of unfinished business may have to do with Rohit’s decision to stay in-charge until the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
“I think probably the fact that they lost the last one and he was captain, that might be the thing that's playing on the back of his mind," Ponting noted.
“Just have one more crack at trying to win the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and the ODI World Cup," he said.
“I mean when you see him play like he played in the Champions Trophy final, you wouldn't say that his time is up just yet,” Ponting added.
