NEW DELHI: Star India batter
Virat Kohli
surprised his fans by announcing the retirement from the T20 Internationals following India's victory in the
T20 World Cup final
against South Africa.
Kohli played a crucial role in India's 7-run triumph over South Africa, scoring a match-winning 76 runs off 59 balls. His innings, which included two sixes and six fours, helped India recover from a shaky start of 34 for three within the powerplay overs.
Kohli's contribution propelled the team to a competitive total of 176 for seven.
Upon receiving the Man of the Match award,
Kohli
made a surprising announcement, stating, 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 broadcast after India's 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 9 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.
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