BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: India greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced they had played their last Twenty20 internationals after India’s thrilling seven-run win over South Africa in the T20 World Cup final in Barbados on Saturday.
Star batsman Kohli put a run of low scores behind him to make 76 as he was named player of the match, with the 35-year-old saying afterwards: “This was my last T20 World Cup, and this is what we wanted to achieve.
“One day you feel you can’t get a run, then things happen. God is great, and I got the job done for the team on the day it mattered.
“Now or never (that was my) last T20 for India, wanted to make the most of it. Wanted to respect the situation rather than force it.”
Kohli, pressed on whether he had played his last T20 international, added at the presentation ceremony: “This was an open secret, it’s time for the next generation to take over, some amazing players will take the team forward and keep the flag waving high.”
Former India captain Kohli, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, scored more on Saturday than he had in the rest of the tournament.
Prior to the showpiece match at the Kensington Oval, he had managed just 75 runs in seven innings during the competition.
Rohit who opened the innings alongside Kohli, had been the team’s form batsman leading into the final with 248 runs, including three fifties, at an average of over 41.
He departs the format as the highest ever scorer in T20 internationals with 4,231 runs — Kohli is second with 4,188 runs.
Rohit’s five centuries in T20 internationals are unmatched and he has also won two T20 World Cup titles: winning the first edition as player in 2007 and now as captain in 2024.
“This was my last (T20i) game as well. There is no better time to say goodbye to this format,” Rohit told the post-game press conference.
“I’ve loved every moment of this. I started my India career playing this format. This is what I wanted, I wanted to win the Cup,” he said.
“I wanted this badly. Very hard to put in words. It was a very emotional moment for me. I was very desperate for this title in my life. I’m happy that we eventually crossed the line,” he said.
While Rohit has been the dominant India batsman in this tournament, where Kohli has struggled for runs, it was a case of role reversal on Saturday, with Rohit out for nine as India slumped to 34-3.
Kohli, however, rebuilt the innings during a stand of 72 with Axar Patel (47) that helped take India to 176-7, before a superb bowling and fielding display restricted South Africa to 169-8.
“None of us doubted him, we know his quality,” said Rohit of Kohli, who bowed out of T20 internationals with 4,188 runs in 117 innings, including one hundred and 38 fifties, at an average of nearly 49.
“He has been at the top of his game for 15 years now. Big players will step up in big occasions and he played a crucial knock today.
“It was a team effort to get to that total but we knew we needed someone to bat time and he did that perfectly, using all his experience,” added Rohit.
The game also marked the final match in charge for India T20 coach and former skipper Rahul Dravid, who was bounced in the air by the team during the celebrations.
“I’m very happy for Rahul, he has done so much for Indian cricket, including when he was playing and now coaching,” said Rohit.
“He has worked so hard with this time for three years, supported the team a lot and understood what the boys needed,” he added.

NEW DELHI: Fans in blue India jerseys shed tears of joy and danced on tabletops at a sports bar in New Delhi on Saturday as Rohit Sharma’s team edged South Africa to win the T20 World Cup and end a global title drought.
India won a thrilling final by seven runs in Barbados to clinch their first major title since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
India last won a World Cup in 2011 at home under M.S. Dhoni, who earlier led the team to a T20 World Cup trophy in the inaugural edition in 2007.
Star batsman Virat Kohli played a knock for the ages in his 59-ball 76 to guide India to 176-7, a total their bowlers defended by restricting the Proteas to 169-8.
“It’s an out-of-the-world feeling,” Abhishek Bhagat, a 34-year-old software professional on a visit to Delhi from Belgium, told AFP outside the sports bar.
“I experienced it as a child in 2007 and then again in 2011 and now again in 2024. It’s been a long, long wait and I can’t tell you how much fun we will have.”
Kohli, 35, announced his retirement from international T20 matches in his man-of-the-match speech, and Bhagat said: “King Kohli is a player who performs when it matters.”
Another fan, Rajneesh Duggal said: “It’s a proud moment for every Indian. It is a fitting finale for outgoing coach Rahul Dravid and for Kohli. Hope Rohit stays on.”
Hundreds of fans took to the streets and drove past the iconic India Gate shouting “Long live, India” slogans from their cars and bikes.
India have faltered in the knockout stages of International Cricket Council (ICC) events, despite being ranked number one in both T20s and one-day internationals (ODIs) and number two in Tests.
Rohit and his team came agonizingly close to winning the one-day ICC World Cup at home last year but lost to Australia in the final at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
But the team held their nerves in a close final, and pace bowler Hardik Pandya kept calm to defend 16 runs off the last over.
South Africa, who played their first-ever World Cup final, looked set for the target when they needed 30 from the last five overs but Indian bowlers put the choke on.
Emotional scenes followed as fans hugged each other at the sports bar, danced on tabletops and ran out to celebrate on the streets at midnight.
News channels repeatedly showed images Saturday of fans holding Hindu fire rituals to urge the gods to take the team to victory over South Africa.
Some featured pictures bedecked with flower garlands of Rohit, who has hit three half-centuries in the tournament, holding the World Cup trophy.
India knocked out defending champions England in the semifinal in Guyana and remained unbeaten in the tournament.
The World Cup could be the last for the 37-year-old Rohit as the next edition in the shortest international format would be in 2026.
Rohit was part of India’s T20 World Cup triumph in the inaugural edition in 2007, while Kohli won the ODI prize under Dhoni in 2011.
That was India’s previous World Cup triumph, when Dhoni lifted the trophy at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and the country erupted in joy.
Two years later, Dhoni’s team beat hosts England in the 50-over Champions Trophy final but fans had to wait for 11 years for another major title.
India lost in the semifinals of the 2019 ODI World Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup, before last year’s ODI final defeat again left fans heartbroken.