Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from T20Is, making his decision public after receiving the Player of the Match award after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Virat Kohli retires from T20Is
Kohli confirmed he has played his final T20I match, moments after India broke their World Cup jinx, beating South Africa by seven runs in the final.
Opening the innings, Kohli did not have a great tournament in the USA and the West Indies, scoring an aggregate of 75 runs before the final. In the summit clash, Kohli anchored the innings as India posted 176-7. Kohli made a 59-ball 76, reaching his fifty in 48 balls.
Kohli’s announcement caps off a wonderful T20I career: he made 4,188 runs at an average of 48.69 with one hundred and 38 fifties, the most in the format.
Emotion. Elation. Joy. 🇮🇳😍#T20WorldCup | #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/7Frwi69eey
— ICC (@ICC) June 29, 2024
Kohli retires: 'This was an open secret'
"This was my last T20 World Cup, and this is exactly what we wanted to achieve," Kohli said. "This is amazing game. When we came out to bat, I was telling Rohit [Sharma] – One day you feel like you can't get a run and then you come out, and things happens. God is great, I bow my head in gratitude. I am just really grateful that I would be able to get the job done, on the day when it mattered the most.
[What prompted the change] Just the occasion, now or never kind of situation. This was my last T20 game playing for India. It's the last World Cup that I was going to play. So, I wanted to make the most of it. This was our aim: We wanted to win an ICC tournament, we wanted to lift that cup."
"Yes, I have [announced my retirement]. This was an open secret [the retirement]. It was not something that I was not going to announce even if we had lost. This was going to be my last T20 World Cup playing for India."
"It's going to sink in later"
"It's been a long wait for us, waiting to win an ICC tournament," he said. "It's not just me alone. You look at someone like Rohit, he's played NINE T20 World Cups and this is my sixth. He deserves it as much as anyone else in the squad. We're just happy we were able to get the job done.
"It's hard to explain the emotions I felt after the game. I knew what kind of mindset I was in, I wasn't very confident in the last few games. I wasn't feeling really great out there but when God has to bless you, he shows it in ways you can never imagine. I am really grateful and humbled right now and I bow my head.
"It's really difficult to hold things back. I think it's going to sink in a little later and the emotions are going to come to the surface a little later. It's an amazing day and I couldn't be more thankful."
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