Breaking News! Virat Kohli announces his retirement from T20 cricket after India’s T20 World Cup win

Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game. The announcement came just after India had won the T20 World Cup on Saturday by beating South Africa. The 7-run win was enough to hand India its second T20 World Cup and ended its 11-year wait for an ICC title. 

Virat Kohli was given the player of the match for his 76 runs with the bat. The 35-year-old scored an important fifty, on a pitch where the bowlers were having their say. India’s former skipper chose the right moment to score his fifty after a lean patch with the bat. 

The announcement came when Virat Kohli was speaking to Harsha Bhogle to the shock of fans in the stadium and watching on TV. The former Indian skipper began by saying, “This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve.” 

Virat Kohli bows out of T20I Cricket in style 

Coming into the game, Virat Kohli was struggling for runs after being asked to open the batting for India. His knock in the final wasn’t without detractors as the fans were unhappy with the slow strike rate being maintained. Once he went past his fifty, Kohli began to accelerate before falling for 76 runs. 

Further speaking to Harsha Bhogle, the former India skipper said, “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.”

The 35-year-old also said, “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.” 

Virat Kohli ended by saying, “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."