Virat Kohli has ended his T20 international career with a World Cup trophy, making the announcement shortly after India clinched their second T20 World Cup title at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
“This was my last T20 World Cup and this is exactly what we wanted to achieve,” Kohli said after winning the Player of the Match award for his 76 in India’s seven-run victory against South Africa in a thrilling finish. “This is an amazing game, I was telling Rohit today when we went out to bat that one day you feel like you can’t get a run, and then you come out and things happen. God is great. I bow my head in gratitude. I’m really grateful was able to get the job done for the team when it mattered the most.
“This is my last T20 game playing for India, my last World Cup I was going to play,” Kohli went on to say. “I wanted to make the most of it. And this was our aim. We wanted to win an ICC tournament, we wanted to lift the cup. As I said, it was the occasion that helped me put my head down and respect the situation rather than trying to force things out there, and play the game my team wanted me to play.
“Yes I have. This was an open secret, it was not something that I was not going to announce even if we’d lost,” Kohli said, when asked to confirm he was retiring. “This was going to be my last T20 World Cup playing for India, it’s time for the next generation to take over. Two-year cycle, there are some amazing players playing in India, they’re going to take the team forward in the T20 format, and do wonders as we’ve seen them do in the IPL. I’ve no doubts they’ll keep the flag waving high, and really take this team further from here now.” (ESPN Cricinfo)
