Virat Kohli bows out on a high as legendary batter confirms T20I retirement after World Cup win

Legendary India batter Virat Kohli bowed out of the T20 format on a high after he helped India win the T20 World Cup on Saturday (June 29). Virat, having scored 76 runs in the final was the key figure and was declared Player of the Match, before stating that it was his last T20I match in the Bleed Blue of the Indian team. He goes down as one of the greatest if not the greatest players for India in the T20I format with over 4,000 runs.

Virat bows out of T20I cricket

“This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that cup. Wanted to...Yes I have, this was an open secret. Not something that I wasn't going to announce even if we had lost. Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward and do wonders as we have seen them do in the IPL,” Virat said in the post-match interview.

“I have no doubts that they will keep the flag waving high and take this team further from here now. It's been a long wait for us just waiting to win an ICC tournament. It's not just me alone. You look at someone like Rohit, he's played 9 T20 World Cups and this is my sixth,” Virat added.

Having made his debut for the side in June 2010 against Zimbabwe in Harare, Virat quickly established himself as one of the first names in Team India. In the last 14 years, Virat helped India reach the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup and the semifinals of the 2016 and 2022 editions but team failed to win the trophy on those occasions. However, his dream became a reality as he added the T20 World Cup to his trophy cabinet having also won the U-19 and ODI World Cup.

In 125 matches for Team India, Virat scored 4,188 runs at an average of 48.69 while scoring 38 fifties and a solitary hundred in the 2022 Asia Cup against Afghanistan. He also bagged four wickets during this period. He retires with the distinction of highest T20I scorer of his generation.