The ICC has announced Rohit Sharma as the brand ambassador for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. India and Sri Lanka will co-host the event next year. The announcement was made by ICC chairman Jay Shah during the schedule launch in Mumbai on Tuesday, November 25.
Rohit is one of the most successful players in T20 World Cup history. He won his first title in 2007 when MS Dhoni led India to victory in the first-ever edition. He then played in every T20 World Cup after that. In 2024, he lifted his first ICC trophy as captain after India won the title by defeating South Africa in a thrilling final in Barbados.
Rohit is the only Indian cricketer to win two T20 World Cup trophies. He is also only the second Indian captain to lift the trophy. After the 2024 win, both Rohit and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from T20Is.
Rohit expressed his happiness after being named brand ambassador. He said he was proud to be the first Indian cricketer to receive this honour from the ICC.
“Good evening, everyone. From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank the ICC and Jay Shah. It’s a huge honour to be an ambassador of an ICC event. I was just told that no active player has ever been announced as an ICC ambassador, so this is a big privilege for me and a great honour as well. I’m very thankful and very grateful,” Rohit said.
“Hopefully, we can create the same magic we created last year, even though it will be with a different bunch of boys this time.”
Rohit Sharma Reflects on the Challenge of Winning ICC Trophies
Rohit also spoke about the difficulty of winning ICC trophies. India had gone 11 years without an ICC title after the 2013 Champions Trophy. The drought finally ended when India won the 2024 T20 World Cup under his leadership.
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He said that he has seen the ups and downs of international cricket during his long career. Right now, he only plays ODI cricket after retiring from Tests earlier this year.
“Winning an ICC trophy is a huge challenge. I’ve seen that personally over the years I’ve completed 18 years in international cricket. I’ve been fortunate to win two recently, and two early in my career.
But in the middle, there was a long drought where we couldn’t win an ICC trophy, and I know how desperate we were as players, as a team, and as management to get our hands on one. To finally come out and win those trophies felt really good. You can see the amount of happiness it brings to the country with the sport we play,” Rohit Sharma said.
He added that watching the next T20 World Cup from home will feel different, but he is ready for it.
“Now, to sit on the other side and watch the T20 World Cup having played all the World Cups and not being there will definitely feel different. But I’m getting used to sitting at home and watching a few games. It’s different, but I’m enjoying it whether it’s sitting at home or in the stadium watching the women win. I’ll come to that in a moment,” Rohit added.
