‘I played my last T20I’: Virat Kohli announces retirement after India’s World Cup win, urges next generation to excel

Virat Kohli announced his retirement from T20I cricket after India won the World Cup, beating South Africa by seven runs in a thriller at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday. In a thriller match, Indian runners Jasrit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh produced magical spins in the final overs to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was an emotional moment for players from both teams. Indian captain Rohit Sharma, vice-captain Hardik Pandya, spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Axar Patel all had tears in their eyes. But it was Kohli’s announcement that would raise emotions to different levels.

“It was my last T20 World Cup, that’s exactly what we wanted to achieve. One day you feel like you can’t run and it happens, God is great. Just the opportunity, now or never this kind of situation,” Kohli, who top-scored with 76 off 59 balls to walk away with the player of the match award, said during the post-match presentation.

Kohli wants next generation to step up

When Harsha Bhogle wanted to confirm Kohli’s announcement, the former Indian captain went further to state that it was not just his World Cup but also his T20I appearance for India.

“Yes, I did. It was my last T20 match for India,” Kohli said. Kohli said he would have announced it even if India had finished second in the final against South Africa.

“We wanted to lift this cup. It was an open secret. It’s not something I wasn’t going to announce even if we lost. It’s time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward,” Kohli said.

Kohli said captain Rohit Sharma deserved the trophy more as he had been waiting for it for so long. “It’s been a long wait for us, waiting to win an ICC tournament. You look at someone like Rohit, he has played 9 T20 World Cups and this is my sixth. He deserves it. It’s been difficult to hold things in (emotions) and I think it will sink in later. It’s an incredible day and I’m grateful,” he said.

Virat Kohli walked out with his head held high. He was horribly out of touch with reality throughout the tournament, but he stood up when it mattered most.

He started the innings by hitting Marco Jansen for three fours in the first overs but the momentum completely changed when South Africa hit back with three wickets in the powerplay. India lost Rohit, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav – three players who had been instrumental in India’s good start in the first six overs were back in the hut. But Kohli dug deep and brought his A-game to the table.

India were reduced to 34/3 in 4.3 overs. From then on, Kohli stitched two crucial partnerships. First, it was a 72-run stand with Axar Patel, who himself played a brilliant hand, hitting four sixes to score 47 off 31 balls. Then, he teamed up with Shivam Dube (27 off 16) to put on 57 runs. Kohli finished with 76 off 59 balls as India put on 176/7.

Kohli was adjudged player of the match. It was his 16th Player of the Match award – the most by any player.

During a brilliant T20I career, Kohli scored 4188 runs in 125 matches at an average of 48.7 scored with a strike rate of 137.04. He is also the all-time leading scorer in T20 World Cups.