It was an emotional day for Virat Kohli on Saturday, at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. The 35-year-old completed the last missing piece from his international white-ball trophy cabinet as he carved out a match-winning knock of a 59-ball 76 to help India beat South Africa by seven runs and lift the T20 World Cup trophy. It was India's second World Cup title haul in the format and its first in 17 years. Kohli later announced his retirement from the format as well and he handed over the baton to the next generation of players.

India suffered a top-order collapse on Saturday in the final after opting to bat first with Keshav Maharaj removing Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in the same over before Kagiso Rabada dismissed Suryakumar Yadav with a slower one. Kohli, who had only scored 75 runs in seven innings so far to record his worst-ever T20 World Cup show, probably saved the best for the last, much like MS Dhoni did in the 2011 ODI World Cup.

Combining with Axar Patel, the pair stitched a 72-run stand to rebuild India's innings before he took off with a flurry of boundaries against Marco Jansen in the death overs. He eventually scored 76 off 59, his only fifty-plus score in the tournament to help India set up a 177-run target.

Carrying the momentum, Jasprit Bumrah inspired India to script a sensational comeback after Heinrich Klaasen managed to level the chase at 25 required of the final 25 balls with following his aggressive half-century knock. The right-armer picked two wickets, while Hardik Pandya snared three as India restricted South Africa to 169 for eight in the chase and lift their second T20 World Cup trophy and a maiden ICC trophy in 11 years.

Following the win, Kohli was seen in tears as he congratulated his teammates and later joined them in their wild celebrations in Barbados before officially announcing his retirement from the format. His wife Anushka Sharma may not have made it to Barbados for the big night, but she was present with Kohli after the celebrations. The former India captain was spotted making goofy faces and giving flying kisses during his video call with Anushka and the kids.

- 'This was my last T20 game playing for India' -

There were always speculations over whether Kohli and Rohit would continue playing the format given that the next T20 World Cup is two years later, and the 35-year-old addressed it after being handed the Player of the Match trophy on Saturday.

"This was my last T20 game playing for India. We wanted to lift that cup. [if he is confirming if this was his last T20I] Yes I have, this was an open secret. Wasn't something that I was not 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," he said.

Rohit joined Kohli shortly after, thus confirming his retirement from T20Is as well, leaving the two to focus on the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, which will likely be their final white-ball appearance for India.