BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Indian greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced they have played their final Twenty20 internationals after India’s thrilling seven-run win over South Africa in the T20 World Cup final in Barbados on Saturday.
Star batsman Kohli put a run of low scores behind him to score 76 as he was named man of the match, with the 35-year-old saying afterwards: “This was my last T20 World Cup, and that’s what we wanted to achieve .
“One day you feel like you can’t run, then things happen.” God is great, and I got the job done for the team on the day it mattered.
“It was now or never (it was my) last T20 for India, I wanted to make the most of it. I wanted to respect the situation, not force it.”
Kohli, pressed on whether he had played his last T20 international, added at the presentation ceremony: “This has been an open secret, it’s time for the next generation to take over, some amazing players will take the team forward and keep the flag flying high.”
Former India captain Kohli, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, scored more runs on Saturday than in the rest of the tournament.
Prior to the international match at Kensington Oval, he managed just 75 runs in seven innings during the competition.
Rohit, who opened the innings alongside Kohli, was in batting form leading into the final with 248 runs, including three fifties, at an average of over 41.
He leaves the format as the highest run-scorer ever in T20 Internationals with 4,231 runs — Kohli is second with 4,188 runs.
Rohit’s five centuries in T20 internationals are unmatched 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.
“This was also my last (T20i) match. There is no better time to say goodbye to this format,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
“I loved every moment of it. I started my career in India playing this format. That’s what I wanted, I wanted to win the Cup – he said.
“I wanted this badly. Very difficult to describe in words. It was a very emotional moment for me. I was very desperate for this title in my life. “I’m happy that we crossed the line in the end,” he said.
While Rohit has been India’s dominant batsman in this tournament, where Kohli has struggled for runs, there was a reversal of roles on Saturday, with Rohit on nine as India slumped to 34-3.
Kohli, however, rebuilt the innings during a stand of 72 with Axar Patel (47) that helped India to 176-7, before some brilliant bowling and fielding restricted South Africa to 169-8.
“None of us doubted him, we know his quality,” said Rohit of Kohli, who bowed out among the T20 internationals with 4,188 runs in 117 innings, including one hundred and 38 fifties, at an average of nearly 49.
“He’s been at the top of his game for 15 years. Big players will step up on big occasions and he played a crucial shot today.
“It was a team effort to get to that total, but we knew we needed someone to get time and he did it perfectly, using all his experience,” added Rohit.
The match also marked the final match in charge of India T20 coach and former skipper Rahul Dravid, who was blown up by the team during the celebrations.
“I am very happy for Rahul, he has done so much for Indian cricket, including when he was playing and now he is coaching,” Rohit said.
“He worked so hard for three years with this time, he supported the team a lot and understood what the boys needed,” he added.
