After passing the baton to the next generation and bringing an end to his illustrious T20I career, Virat Kohli admitted that he couldn’t have dreamt of a better day than lifting the T20 World Cup trophy.
The second-highest T20I run-scorer with 4,188 runs and the highest run-getter in the history of the T20 World Cup, with 1292 runs, Kohli decided to bring the curtain down on his illustrious career in the shortest format of the game.
Kohli spent time chasing the shadows of his former self for the majority of the tournament. Before the final, Kohli’s statistics were in complete contrast to his tally for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
But in his final appearance in the Indian jersey in the shortest format of cricket against South Africa in the final of the marquee event, Kohli and the Indian team finally broke the 11-year ICC trophy hiatus.
“Couldn’t have dreamt of a better day than this. God is great and I bow my head in gratitude. We finally did it, jai hind,” Kohli captioned his post on Instagram.
The form is temporary, and class is permanent Kohli justified this saying by playing a match-saving knock.
He struck 50 off 48 deliveries, which is the second-slowest fifty for the Indian team in the T20 World Cup against a fierce Proteas bowling line-up.
But in the next 14 deliveries, he shifted through gears and struck 28 runs within a blink of an eye. He walked back with a score of 76 off 59 deliveries after Marco Jansen finally got the better of him towards the end of the first innings. His effortless play was recognized at the end, and he was adjudged the Player of the Match in his final T20I appearance for the Men in Blue.
For Kohli, it was an open secret that he was going to retire from the T20I after the conclusion of India’s successful World Cup campaign.
“This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve. One day, you feel like you can’t get a run, and this happens, God is great. Just the occasion, now or never kind of situation. This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that cup. [if he is confirming if this was his last T20I] Yes I have, this was an open secret,” he said in the post-match presentation.
“Wasn’t something that I was not going to announce even if we had lost. Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward and do wonders, as we have seen them do in the IPL. I have no doubts that they will keep the flag waving high and take this team further from here now. It’s been a long wait for us just waiting to win an ICC tournament. It’s not just me alone,” Kohli added.
Kohli’s match-winning knock took India closer to their dream by propelling them to a competitive total of 176/7. Despite a nervy defence, India managed to defend the total and clinch a 7-run win to lift their second T20 World Cup title.