Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from international T20 cricket after hitting a half-century in India’s win over South Africa in the World Cup final in Barbados.
Kohli snapped a lean run of form in the tournament, which had seen him score just 75 runs in seven innings at an average 11, by hitting 76 from 59 deliveries in his side’s total of 176-7.
After India limited South Africa to 169-8 in reply to win their second T20 World Cup and first since 2007, the 35-year-old confirmed in his Player of the Match interview that he was now quitting T20Is.
Kohli bows out from the format with 4,188 runs in 125 matches at an average of 48.69, with 38 fifties and one century – against Afghanistan in September 2022 – at a strike-rate of 137.04.
He said: “This was my last T20 World Cup.
“It is time for the new generation to come through for India now. We have some amazing players coming through and they have to take this team forwards now.
“One day you feel like you can’t get a run but one day, things just click. I am so proud to get the runs for the team the day it mattered most.
“The occasion prompted that change for me. I felt like it was now or never.
Kohli says it is time for India’s new generation to take the T20I team forward
“We have wanted to lift a trophy for a long time and the occasion made me put my head down, respect the situation and play the innings that the team needed from me.
“I wasn’t feeling myself before today. I wasn’t confident. So I am very grateful and humble right now. It has been difficult, so there are a lot of emotions.
“It hasn’t quite sunk in for me yet. It’s an amazing day, I am so thankful.”
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