'Will be strange watching it from home...': Rohit Sharma's candid take on missing 2026 T20 World Cup

Former India captain Rohit Sharma opened up on not participating in the T20 World Cup for the first time in his career. He had played multiple editions of the tournament for India and had even captained the team to the title in 2024. The 38-year-old had announced his retirement from the format after the Men bin Blue had defeated South Africa in the final at Barbados.

Rohit will be watching the upcoming T20 World Cup from his home and will be cheering India on from there. He highlighted that he has been a part of India's team in multiple T20 World Cups and described the feeling of watching matches from home as "strange". He further said that he will come to the stadium to watch India play and is looking forward for that experience.

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“We were talking about this at home, that it will be strange watching it from home, especially the T20 World Cup. From the time it started until now, I have been part of every World Cup, so it will feel different. When I watch the team playing T20 games, the feeling of missing out isn’t as much. But when you miss a World Cup, the reality really sinks in. That’s when you realise you’re not going to be part of it. So it will be a little weird. However, I will be somewhere in the stadium. It won’t be the same and it will be a different experience, but I’m actually looking forward to it. It will be quite amazing,” Rohit said on JioHotstar’s ‘Captain Rohit Sharma’s Roadmap for T20 World Cup’ show.

Rohit on current Indian team

Rohit also shared his take on the Indian team that has been chosen for the 2026 T20 World Cup and said that there is strong mutual trust between the players as they have been playing together for years now.

“I think togetherness and mutual trust are the most important things. If I’m not wrong, these players have been playing together for almost two years now. There have been a few who have missed out and some who have come in new, but apart from that, I think around 80 to 90 per cent of the squad has remained the same since the last ICC Men’s T20 World Cup,” Rohit stated.

India to face USA in opener

Meanwhile, India have been drawn in Group A of the T20 World Cup alongside the likes of Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan and USA. They will begin their campaign with the clash against USA at the Wankhede stadium on February 7.