Industrialists Anand Mahinda and Gautam Adani and big tech CEOs Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai congratulated the Indian men’s cricket team.

Virat Kohli, former Indian cricket team captain and Player of the Match in the T20 World Cup 2024 final, announced his retirement from the format right after India’s historic win over South Africa in the title clash in Barbados on Saturday. Kohli, who has been one of India’s best-ever cricketers, said that it was time for the next generation to take over. For a boy who rose from the by-lanes of Delhi to rule world cricket, it was the perfect culmination of a T20I career that saw several highs as well as lows as captain. 

“This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve,” Kohli told the broadcasters after India ended a 11-ear ICC title drought.

“One day you feel like you can’t get a run and this happens, God is great. (It is) just the occasion, now or never kind of situation. This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that cup.”

“Yes I have, this was an open secret (retirement). 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,” Kohli confirmed when asked by Harsha Bhogle if he was making the official announcement about him calling it a day.

“It’s been a long wait for us, waiting to win an ICC tournament. You look at someone like Rohit (Sharma), he’s played 9 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,” Kohli added.

Virat Kohli is one of those rare cricketers who have won both the ODI and the T20 World Cup now. Kohli played his first T20I in 2010 and then went on to play several T20 World Cup. But every time, India fell short until the 2024 edition, where Kohli emerged as a saviour after India’s horrendous start against South Africa. He scored a gritty 76 off 59 balls as India scored a record high total of 176/7 in a T20 World Cup final. 

At the end of his glorious career, Virat Kohli finished with a tally of 4188 in 125 matches at an average of 48.69.

India beat South Africa in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup, beating the Proteas by 7 runs. Rohit Sharma and company brought an ICC trophy home after 11 years and India’s first World Cup win since 2011. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team for bringing the cup “home in style”.

CHAMPIONS!

Our team brings the T20 World Cup home in STYLE!

We are proud of the Indian Cricket Team.

This match was HISTORIC. 🇮🇳 🏏 🏆 pic.twitter.com/HhaKGwwEDt

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 29, 2024

“Champions! Our team brings the T20 World Cup home in style! We are proud of the Indian Cricket Team,” Prime Minister Modi posted on X.

In a video message congratulating the team, PM Modi said the team won the World Cup and also the “hearts of crores of Indians”. No small achievement that it did not lose a single match, he said.

“Congratulations to India for this magnificent win. Today, 140 crore countrymen are proud of your fantastic performance. You won the World Cup and also the hearts of crores of Indians. You didn’t lose even one match; that’s not a small feat. You have achieved a spectacular victory. I congratulate you,” the prime minister said in Hindi.

It was India’s second T20 World Cup victory after they had won it in 2007 under the legendary MS Dhoni in South Africa, and first since winning the Champions Trophy in 2013.

Star batter Virat Kohli, who was an upcoming cricketer 17 years ago, made his first fifty of this tournament in the final — a classy 76 off 59 balls with six fours and two sixes that carried India to a competitive 176 for seven.

Then the Indian bowlers, led by Arshdeep Singh (2/20) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/18), worked their magic as they did throughout this tournament, limiting South Africa to 169 for eight to propel India to their second T20 World Cup.

There were pockets of fight from the Proteas, who were playing in their maiden World Cup final.

Heinrich Klaasen threatened India with a 52 off 27 balls (2×4, 5×6) but Hardik Pandya (3/20) snatched the crucial wicket to bring the game decisively in favour of India.