T20 World Cup ambassador Rohit is ‘getting used to sitting on the other side’

Rohit Sharma showed patience and panache, attributes that defined both his batting and persona for the longest time, after being named the brand ambassador of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup.

Many months into his retirement from T20I and Test format, the 38-year-old titan of Indian cricket on Tuesday said he is getting used to sitting at home and watching the action unfold on TV instead of being part of it.

Rohit though continues to play the ODI format and it’s rare for an active cricketer to be announced as brand ambassador of an ICC event, something that made him feel extremely honoured.

“I was told by someone that while playing no one has been announced as an ambassador so it’s a great privilege and honour for me,” Rohit said here during the unveiling of the schedule for the upcoming showpiece that will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.

Rohit captained reigning champions India to glory at the previous T20 World Cup in 2024, and he is already hoping for an encore by the Suryakumar Yadav-led side in front of the home crowd.

“Hopefully we can create the magic again, which we created last year with a different bunch of boys. It’s a huge task to win an ICC event and in my 18 years I have been fortunate to win two recently. To finally come out and win those trophies feel good,” Rohit said.

Moving away from the two formats has not been easy but Rohit is gradually learning to get used to this life by spending quality time with his family, training and attending social events.

“To sit on the other side and watch, having played in each of these (T20) World Cups so far, will feel different. I am getting used to sitting at home and watching,” Rohit said after being named the brand ambassador by ICC chairman Jay Shah.

Rohit has been prolific for India in T20Is, ending with 4,231 runs at an average of 32.01 and a strike-rate of 140.89.

Lauds India women’s team’s WC triumph

Always known to back his teammates to the hilt, Rohit was full of praise for the Indian women’s squad for its recent World Cup triumph, which was achieved after years of heartbreak.

With Indian women’s team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur also in attendance, Rohit said, “I know what they have gone through all these years. I can understand the feeling of setbacks year after year for not winning the trophy. I was there, that’s the moment you live and work hard for and I am sure a lot of hard work has gone in before that World Cup started. I was just asking her after the England game, the coach (Amol Muzumdar), I know him well and understand him very well and I was asking her if he was calm and the answer was not surprising. He is very passionate.

“Even though I was not there, I could feel what happened after the England game. For them to lift the trophy, I was there to watch that, it was a great feeling not just for me but for the entire nation,” Rohit said of the women’s team’s maiden world title.

Rohit retired from the shortest format following India’s triumph in the Americas last year, which broke an 11-year drought of ICC trophies for the Indian team.

Speaking about the groupings in the upcoming T20 World Cup, he said, “Our Group has Pakistan, US, Netherlands and Namibia. You cannot go into any tournament thinking... you cannot take the foot off the pedal and have to be (on top of your game) from ball one.”

“All these teams are quite competitive and every team comes very well prepared. I am quite amazed to see Italy also there,” Rohit said.

“Hope to see many more teams from Europe, Africa and even South East Asia and eventually we will see that because the sport has taken a giant leap,” he added.