Virat Kohli Announces Retirement From T20Is: Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from T20 international cricket following India’s triumph in the 2024 T20 World Cup, as the Superstar batter leaves the format as its World Champion.
India took on South Africa in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. In what would turn out to be one of the most thrilling cricket games of all time, the Men in Blue scored 176 runs in the first inning, with Kohli himself playing the all-important knock of 76-off-59.
Despite losing some early wickets, the Proteas looked on track to chase the target down. At one point in the match, South Africa needed just 30 runs in as many balls with a dangerous-looking Heinrich Klaasen on strike. At this point, India’s chances of winning were put at 3%.
A brilliant display by India’s pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya ensured an unbelievable seven-run victory for their team.
Virat Kohli Announces Retirement From T20Is
Following the game, Virat Kohli was announced as the Player of the Match. During the post-match interview taken by Harsha Bhogle, Kohli announced that he would be stepping away from T20Is for India.
“This is my last T20 game playing for India, my last World Cup I was going to play. 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,” he said.
Still emotional following what was India’s first major trophy win in 11 years, Kohli claimed that he had made up his mind well before the match and that it was kind of an open secret among those close to him, saying,
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“Yes, I have. This was an open secret; it was not something that I was not going to announce 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.”
Virat Kohli had been in poor form throughout this tournament before the final. He had scored 85 runs in seven games, his highest score of 37 coming against Bangladesh. But as India looked in trouble early in the inning, the 35-year-old carried the inning on his back and took the team to a fighting total.
While Virat may have retired from T20Is, he will continue to play ODIs and Test matches for India. He will also most likely continue to play in the IPL.
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