Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag hailed the veteran duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for changing Indian team’s culture. Kohli and Rohit were able to sign off on a high as India won the T20 World Cup by beating South Africa in the final by seven runs at Barbados on Saturday.

This was Rohit Sharma’s ninth T20 World Cup whereas Kohli was playing in his sixth T20I showpiece. As India won their second T20 World Cup title, both Rohit and Virat decided to hang their boots from T20Is, while finishing as the leading run-getters in the format, respectively.

While Rohit Sharma scored 257 runs in eight matches of the T20 World Cup 2024 at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of 156.71, Kohli scored a vital knock of 76 runs off 59 balls in the all-important final against the Proteas after a disappointing run throughout the tournament. Thus, the duo once again played an instrumental role in taking India to glory.

Recalling Virat Kohli’s T20I career, Sehwag said that the veteran played some extraordinary knocks in the shortest format, which will be remembered forever.

“What to say about Virat the T20 World Cup batsman. By far the best T20 World Cup batsman ever, carried the team in 2014 and 2016 single-handedly winning games from difficult situations, in 2022 Melbourne will be in folklore of our T20 history and yesterday in the finals showing his class again. More than the runs, what has been most impressive has been his approach which is reflected in what he says, attributing so much to something larger than himself, which I believe is the grace of a Guru. His T20 career comes to a stellar end and I pray that May the Grace be upon him and he continue to set high standards in the other two formats,” Sehwag wrote about Virat Kohli on X.

Sehwag lauded Rohit Sharma for adopting an aggressive approach in T20Is and playing an instrumental role in the success of the team.

“Rohit, the only player who has played all 9 T20 World Cups, have been extremely impressed by the way he had transformed his game into a more attacking one in the last year or so and created a caring atmosphere within the team. It has been much needed and has also brought about results. Very proud of how you have held yourself and wish you the best in the times ahead,” he added on Rohit Sharma in the same tweet.

Rohit Sharma finished his T20I career as the leading run-getter in the format, with 4231 runs in 159 matches whereas Virat Kohli scored 4188 runs in 125 T20I matches at an average of 48.7 and a strike rate of 137.04.