File photo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.© AFP
Former India batter Mohammad Kaif feels that senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli must be happy after watching youngsters performing well in the T20Is following their retirements from the format. Rohit led India to the T20 World Cup title in June earlier this year and announced his retirement from the format along with Kohli, who played a knock of 76 runs in the final against South Africa in Bridgetown. On the other hand, Rohit was the second-highest run-getter in the tournament with a total of 257 including three half-centuries.
After the duo’s retirement, the likes of Abhishek Varma, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma stepped up to the occasion and made the transition look very smooth under the new captain Suryakumar Yadav.
Kaif’s remark came after Tilak smashed his maiden T20I century in the third T20I against South Africa on Wednesday while Abhishek blasted a 25-ball half-century to guide India to 219/6 and went on to win the match by 11 runs in Centurion.
Earlier in the series opener, Samson hammered his second consecutive T20I century to become the first Indian batter to do so.
“Watching Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson score runs in South Africa’s tough batting conditions must be pleasing for Virat and Rohit. When it comes to T20, they have left Indian cricket in safe hands. #SAvIND,” Kaif wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
India’s T20I transition after Rohit and Kohli’s retirement has been buttery smooth with no major obstacle hindering them from defending their title in 2026.
After the T20 World Cup title, Shubman Gill-led India defeated Zimbabwe 4-1 in the five-match T20I series before Suryakumar was appointed as Men in Blue’s shortest format captain. Under his leadership, India decimated Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by an identical margin of 3-0 before heading to the Rainbow Nation.
In the ongoing series against South Africa, India head to Johannesburg with a 2-1 lead for the final T20I on Friday.
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