Virat Kohli made the announcement after his selection as the T20 World Cup final’s Player of the Match
Shortly after India won their second T20 World Cup in Barbados, Virat Kohli said that his career as a T20 international had concluded with a World Cup trophy.
Kohli accepted the Player-of-the-Match trophy following his dramatic 59-ball 76 in India’s seven-run triumph over South Africa. “This was my last T20 World Cup, and this is exactly what we wanted to achieve,” Kohli remarked. “This is an incredible game. I mentioned to Rohit during our batting practice today that you never know what will happen when you step out and try to score a run. God is magnificent. I give thanks with my head bowed. I appreciate that I could do the task for the team when it counted most.
“This is my last T20 game playing for India, my last World Cup I was going to play,” Kohli stated. “I intended to take full advantage of it. And that was our goal. Our goals were to raise the cup and win an ICC event. As I mentioned before, it was the occasion that enabled me to play the role my team needed me to play—putting my head down and appreciating the circumstances rather than trying to push things.
“I have, indeed. When pressed to confirm that he was retiring, Kohli replied, “This was an open secret; it was not something I was not going to announce if we’d lost.” It’s time for the new generation to step up and take over. This would be my final T20 World Cup as an Indian player. In a two-year cycle, India boasts some outstanding players who will advance the team in the Twenty20 format and perform spectacularly, just as we have witnessed them in the Indian Premier League. They’ll undoubtedly continue to fly the flag high and advance this squad from here on out.
Since the 2011 ODI edition—which also happened to be Kohli’s maiden World Cup—India had recently won their first World Cup. He predicted that the feeling would take some time to register fully.
“Look, it’s been a long wait for us to win an ICC tournament,” he stated. “You should also take a look at someone like Captain Rohit Sharma. It’s not just me. This is my sixth T20 World Cup; he has played in nine. We’re just glad we could finish the job, and even though I knew what type of frame of mind I was in after the game, he deserves it just as much as anyone else on the team. In the final few games, I didn’t feel very confident or well, but when God needs to bless you, he does it in ways that are beyond comprehension. I bend my head in gratitude and humility because of this.
It will take some time to sink in, and the emotions will surface, but overall, it’s been an incredible day for which I am quite grateful. It’s so hard to hold things in.
After 125 matches in the Twenty20 International format, Kohli finished as the second-highest run scorer for India (after Rohit), with 4188 runs at an average of 48.69 and a strike rate of 137.04. Before making 76 off 59 balls in the final, he had struggled in the T20 World Cup until the semi-final, scoring 75 runs in seven innings.
Speaking to Star Sports, Kohli remarked, “To be honest, I couldn’t have imagined this in my wildest dreams, especially considering how my tournament had gone so far.” “I learned a great lesson from the game and was greatly humbled by it. I set aside my ego and put my head down. You are nothing if you believe you are all-powerful and infallible. You must accept the circumstances and keep your head down. And God revealed to me that He will maintain your position and draw you back if you get too ahead of yourself.
“I simply felt different today. I felt more grounded and in step with the circumstances. And I was granted the poise to simply set everything that had happened up to this point aside. As a seasoned player, you are expected to win a World Cup and make a contribution. As Rohit and I have discussed numerous times before, we must prevail in this format before we go. These things are beyond your wildest imagination.”
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