Virat Kohli made the decision to retire from T20Is after India's thrilling seven-run win against South Africa in the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup. He was honored with the Player of the Match award for his impressive 59-ball 76 in his final T20I, a performance that played a crucial role in India securing its second World T20 title.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

"This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve," Kohli said in the post-match presentation on Saturday. "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.

"Yes I have (announced my retirement from T20Is), this was an open secret. It was not something that I wasn't going to announce even if we had lost. It's time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward. It's been a long wait for us, waiting to win an ICC tournament. You look at someone like Rohit, he's played 9 T20 World Cups and this is my sixth. He deserves it."

Virat Kohli made his T20 debut in June 2010 and has since played in 125 T20Is, amassing a total of 4188 runs. This impressive record includes one century and 38 half-centuries. Kohli's exceptional performance has secured him the position as the second-highest run-scorer in T20Is, with only Rohit Sharma surpassing him in this regard.