"I think he'll definitely play another World Cup" - Muttiah Muralitharan on Rohit Sharma
Former Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has backed Rohit Sharma to play in the 2024 T20 World Cup, set to be contested in the West Indies and USA. The 51-year-old reckons Rohit's strike rate is not a problem, but highlighted the need to work on staying fit.
With India unsuccessful in claiming the 2023 World Cup, rumours have floated around Rohit's retirement from T20Is. The right-hander doesn't have an encouraging record in T20 World Cups, making 963 runs in 36 innings striking at 127.89.
In an interaction to mark the release of his biopic '800', Muralitharan reckoned the Indian captain is still young and doesn't see why he can't stick around for the 2024 T20 World Cup. He said:
"You look at his ODI World Cup performance. The starts he gave, the kind of strike rates he batted at. He never failed in the tournament. And he's only 36, that's young. He can play another World Cup if he pushes his fitness like Virat. Rohit batted with a strike rate of 130 in ODIs, which is not bad for T20. He's an experienced player. You just have to work harder on your fitness after 35. If the desire is there, he'll play. I think he'll definitely play another World Cup. It's on his mind."
The right-handed batter finished the 2023 World Cup as the second-highest run-getter with 597 runs in 11 innings, averaging over 50. He was the main reason behind Team India's explosive starts throughout the competition.
What Rohit Sharma said after losing 2023 World Cup final
After being stunned by Australia in the 2023 World Cup final, the 36-year-old lamented his side's lack of runs but credited Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne for keeping their composure. He said at the post-match presentation:
"The result has not gone our way. We were not good enough today. We tried everything but it wasn't supposed to be. 20-30 runs more would have been good, KL and Kohli were stitching a good partnership and we were looking at 270-280 but we kept losing wickets. When you have 240 on the board, you want to take wickets but credit to Head and Labuschagne who stitched together a big partnership and put us completely out of the game."
Travis Head smashed 137 in the final to help Australia chase down 241 with six wickets to spare.