Star batter Virat Kohli on Saturday announced his retirement from T20 Internationals after guiding India to its second T20 World Cup win here.
Kohli anchored the innings with a match-winning 59-ball 76 with two sixes and six fours to lift India from a precarious 34 for three inside the PowerPlay, to a formidable 176 for seven, cornerstone of India’s seven-run victory over South Africa.
Kohli said after collecting the Man-of-the-Match award that it was his last T20I match for India.
“This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve,” Kohli told the broadcaster after India’s first win in a global tournament after 11 years.
“One day you feel like you can’t get a run and this happens, God is great. (It is) just the occasion, now or never kind of situation. This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that cup,” he said.
“Yes I have, this was an open secret (retirement). Not something that I wasn’t going to announce even if we had lost. Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward,” Kohli confirmed when asked if he was making the official announcement about him calling it a day.
“It’s been a long wait for us, waiting to win an ICC tournament. You look at someone like Rohit (Sharma), he’s played nine T20 World Cups and this is my sixth. He deserves it. It’s been difficult to hold things (emotions) back and I think it’s going to sink in later. It’s an amazing day and I’m thankful,” Kohli added.
VIRAT KOHLI T20I STATS
Batting stats
| Mat. | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | Best | 100s/50s |
| 125 | 4188 | 48.69 | 137.04 | 122* | 1/38 |
Bowling stats
| Mat. | Wickets | Econ. | Average | Strike Rate | BBI |
| 125 | 4 | 8.05 | 51.00 | 38.00 | 1/13 |
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