Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Virat Kohli for playing a masterful knock in the T20 World Cup final on Saturday. After India got their hands on the coveted trophy, Kohli announced his retirement from T20Is after which Rohit followed suit and pulled the curtains down on his career as well. Kohli struggled throughout the tournament, but stepped up just when it mattered the most.
In the final against Aiden Markram’s South Africa, Kohli scored 76 runs off 59 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes, helping India post 176 for 7 on the board. Thereafter, India restricted the Proteas to 169 for 8 and won by 7 runs. Rohit said that Kohli had plans of stepping away from T20Is before the start of the tournament in the Caribbean and the United States.
“Look, he’s been a champion player without a doubt. And we all know what he has done for us. At some point everyone has to say goodbye to the game and Virat was very clear that this is what he wanted to do and he was very clear before the start of the tournament as well,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
Kohli had a job on his hands in the final after India lost the early wickets of Rohit, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav. From there on, it was his 72-run stand with Axar Patel that brought India right back into the contest. Rohit said that there could not have been a better way for Kohli to sign off from the T20 format.
“I am very happy for him that he batted like he did in the finals. I know the quality that he has the big games and all of that. He is going to come good. When we wanted him the most, he came out and performed the way he did. So very happy looking at his career. Obviously, he’s been a champion player. We know, we can see the stats and everything there. But, yeah, nice way to sign off from this format,” Rohit added.
Kohli finished his career with 4188 runs from 125 T20Is at an average of 48.69 and a strike-rate of 137.04 with a hundred and 38 fifties to show for his efforts.
