BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Indian stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced that they have played their final Twenty20 international matches after India’s thrilling seven-point victory over South Africa in the T20 World Cup final in Barbados on Saturday.
Star batsman Kohli put a string of poor scores behind him by scoring 76 and was named man of the match, with the 35-year-old later saying: “It was my last T20 World Cup and that’s what we wanted to achieve.”
“One day you feel like you can’t run, then something happens. God is great and I did the work for the team on the day it mattered.
“It was now or never (my) last T20 for India, I wanted to make the most of it. I wanted to respect the situation and not impose it.
Kohli, when pressed on whether he was playing his last T20 international match, added at the presentation ceremony: “It was an open secret, it’s time for the next generation to take over, some amazing players will take the team forward and make the flag fly high.”
Former India captain Kohli, one of the greatest batsmen of his generation, scored more goals on Saturday than he did in the rest of the tournament.
Before the most important match at Kensington Oval during the competition, he had scored just 75 runs in seven innings.
Rohit, who opened alongside Kohli, was the team’s top batsman before the final, scoring 248, including three fifties, at an average of over 41.
He leaves the format as the highest run-scorer in T20 international history with 4231 points — Kohli is second with 4188 points.
Rohit’s five centuries in T20 international matches are unrivaled and he has also won two T20 World Cup titles: winning the first edition as a player in 2007 and now as captain in 2024.
“It was my last match (T20i) as well. There is no better time to bid farewell to this format,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference.
“I loved every moment. I started my career in India playing in this format. That’s what I wanted, I wanted to win the Cup,” he said.
“I wanted it so much. It’s very difficult to put into words. It was a very emotional moment for me. I really wanted this title in my life. I’m happy that we finally crossed the line,” he said.
While Rohit has been India’s dominant player in this tournament while Kohli has struggled to score runs, there was a role reversal on Saturday. Rohit was sidelined for nine runs and India are now 34-3.
Kohli, however, revived the game during a 72-wicket partnership with Axar Patel (47) to help India reach 176-7 before some brilliant fielding and defense restricted South Africa to 169-8.
“None of us doubted him, we know his quality,” Rohit said of Kohli, who retired from the T20 internationals with 4188 runs in 117 innings, including 1155, at an average of almost 49.
“He has been at the top of his game for 15 years. Big players will come on the scene in important situations and he delivered the decisive blow today.
“It was a team effort to achieve this result, but we knew we needed someone who would play throughout and he did it to perfection, using all his experience,” Rohit added.
It was also the last match in charge of India T20 coach and former captain Rahul Dravid, who was tossed in the air by the team during their celebrations.
“I am very happy for Rahul, he has done so much for Indian cricket, even when he was playing and now he is a coach,” Rohit said.
“He worked very hard during these three years, was very supportive of the team and understood what the boys needed,” he added.
