India’s talisman Virat Kohli has hanged his boots from T20Is after the Men in Blue lifted their second T20 World Cup title by beating South Africa in a thrilling final by seven runs in the T20I showpiece at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday.
Kohli, who wasn’t in the best of forms throughout the tournament, once again proved his mettle on the big stage, scoring a match-winning knock of 76 runs off 59 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes.
The talisman was able to hit the ground running in his final T20I inning, scoring three fours in the first over of Marco Jansen. But India lost three quick wickets of in-form Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav to find themselves under the cosh at 34-3.
However, Kohli was able to steady the ship with Axar Patel, adding 72 runs with the left-hander. Patel scored a vital knock of 47 runs and provided the much-needed impetus in the middle overs and thus India posted a fighting score of 176 runs on the board after winning the toss.
But India had their backs against the wall with South Africa needing a run-a-ball 30 with Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller at the crease. However, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya were able to get their team back into the contest.
Virat Kohli was awarded Player of the Match for his brilliant knock. He said while talking to the host broadcaster, “This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve. One day you feel like you can’t get a run and this happens, God is great. Just the occasion, now or never kind of situation. This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that cup.”
Confirming if this was his last T20I, Kohli added, “Yes I have, this was an open secret. Wasn’t something that I was not going to announce even if we had lost. Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward and do wonders as we have seen them do in the IPL. I have no doubts that they will keep the flag waving high and take this team further from here now.”
India last won a World Cup title back in 2011 when they were able to go all the way in the home conditions. They also lifted the Champions Trophy title in 2013 but since then a major ICC title has eluded them despite consistent performances.
Speaking on ending the big title drought, Kohli concluded, “It’s been a long wait for us just waiting to win an ICC tournament. It’s not just me alone. You look at someone like Rohit, he’s played 9 T20 World Cups and this is my sixth. He deserves it as much as anyone else in the squad. Just happy we were able to get the job done and really it’s hard to explain the emotions I felt after the game.”
Kohli ended his T20I career with 4188 runs in 125 matches at an average of 48.7 and a strike rate of 137.04, including 38 fifties.
