Even if his international career had ended with the 2022 T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma wouldn’t have had any regrets. He has achieved everything in T20 cricket. He is already a World Cup winner, he has the third highest T20I aggregate with 3,974 runs in 151 games, and his five hundreds are the joint most with Glenn Maxwell. As India captain, he has as many T20I victories (41 in 54 games) as MS Dhoni, apart from five IPL titles.

But there's another chapter waiting to be added to this T20 giant’s career. He has another shot at World Cup glory, a chance to bow out on a high. Had it not been for Hardik Pandya’s injury during the ODI World Cup match against Bangladesh in Pune last October, there’s a big chance he would have been the skipper at this T20 World Cup. But the all-rounder's injury and a long recovery process meant BCCI couldn’t have taken a chance.

Prior to that, it had seemed Rohit was out of India’s scheme of things in T20s after the semi-final rout against England in the 2022 World Cup. After that loss, he didn’t figure in a T20 game until the ODI World Cup. But his spectacular form in the 50-over tournament in 2023 and Pandya’s fitness concerns has left the 37-year-old in a position to have another go at winning a global ICC event as captain.

As his international and IPL records show, few understand the T20 format better. On the back of his impressive record with Mumbai Indians, he came in with great expectations after replacing Virat Kohli as India’s white-ball captain at the end of 2021. That's why BCCI’s top brass still sees him as the best bet to make India world champions again. An ICC trophy is the only thing missing from the BCCI cabinet in the last decade, the 2013 Champions Trophy triumph being India’s last success.

Rohit came agonisingly close to fulfilling that dream last October-November at home but was left licking his wounds after a ruthless show by Australia in the final at Ahmedabad. The 2024 T20 World Cup thus is a last chance for redemption.

In the United States and the Caribbean, his reputation as captain will be on the line. Rohit's strength is how he learns from setbacks and strives to reinvent. For him, there are many lessons to take from the last T20 World Cup.

Though India reached the last four in Australia, they never looked like a champion side. One saw the correction done at the ODI World Cup, where India emerged the team to beat after a series of sensational performances.

That’s the transformation Rohit Sharma must bring to his T20 squad this month -- shed the timidness and play the brand of cricket that intimidates.

Rohit’s ability to galvanise the troops with his batting will be tested. It was seen in the ODI World Cup where his electrifying starts set the tone. However, the question is whether at 37 he has it in him to do that in the ultra-demanding format.

As experts discuss the batters who can make an impact in this World Cup, Rohit’s name hasn't figure prominently. It is mainly due to his inconsistent IPL form. For the first time since 2018, he crossed 400 runs, but the impact innings were missing. He hit a hundred (vs CSK) and signed off with a sparkling 68. In between, he had a series of low scores in seven outings.

Rohit’s big-match temperament though has been evident since the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. In the high-pressure final against Pakistan in South Africa, his 16-ball 30* gave impetus to the innings while Yuvraj Singh (14/19 balls) and Dhoni (6/10b) struggled. He had launched his international career with a 40-ball 50* against hosts South Africa and was unbeaten in all his three outings.

At the fag end of a 17-year international career, India are looking up to him to help win back the T20 Cup. In New York, Saturday’s warm-up game suggests the pitches will test the batters. That’s also why the selectors have stuck with the experience of Rohit and Virat Kohli.

As a batter, Rohit has the game to adapt to the pace-friendly pitches expected at New York and the slower surfaces in the Caribbean in the second half of the tournament. He also puts everyone at ease as skipper. An example was Hardik’s performance with bat and ball against Bangladesh. He seemed to acknowledge that his skipper valued him, putting behind the row that followed the MI captaincy switch.

“Whoever knows him closely knows that he doesn’t bother about his position in the team. With captaincy, he gives you the vibes of “if he asks something of you, you go the distance to accomplish the task”,” old Mumbai teammate Shardul Thakur said of him ahead of the ODI World Cup.

R Ashwin made the point after the England Test series win. “When he backs a player, he does it without question until the last moment. It is not easy. Even Dhoni does that, but he takes 10 steps more.”

Before leaving for the US, the Indian players cut a cake and Rishabh Pant offered a piece to Rohit. He refused and said: “Jeetne ke baad cake khayenge (will eat after winning)”.

India will hope there will be an occasion to cut a cake on June 29.

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