India's star cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from T20 internationals after India won the World Cup by beating South Africa in a thrilling final in Barbados.
"This was my last [T20I] game as well," Rohit said at the press conference after the final. "No better time to say goodbye to this format. 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.
"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. Happy that we eventually crossed the line."
Earlier, Virat stated after recieving Man of the Match, "This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve." One day you feel like you can't get a run and then this happens. God is great. Just the occasion, now or never kind of situation."
Kohli confirmed that his retirement decision was not a spur-of-the-moment revelation but a planned conclusion to his illustrious T20 career. "This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that Cup. Yes, I have [planned this], it was an open secret. 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."
Reflecting on the long journey and the team's perseverance, Kohli acknowledged the challenges and the collective effort. "It's been a long wait for us, waiting to win an ICC tournament. You look at someone like Rohit, he's played nine T20 World Cups and this is my sixth. He deserves it. It's been difficult to hold things (emotions) back and I think it's going to sink in later. It's an amazing day and I'm thankful."
