Batting maestro Virat Kohli turned up on the biggest stage and played a gritty 76-run knock, which laid the foundation for India's thrilling win over South Africa in the T20 World Cup final. The star batter was under the scanners before the big finale, but he took the onus on himself when the stakes were high and stood tall after India lost early wickets in the powerplay. Kohli switched back to his anchor's role and held one hand to provide stability to the Indian innings while the other batters took on the bowlers from the other end. The 35-year-old faced 59 balls and smashed six fours and two sixes.

Veteran India opener Wasim Jaffer heaped praise on Kohli, who made a big difference in the final by holding one end when things got tricky for India early in the innings.

"Virat Kohli hadn't scored many runs in the tournament, but he chose the right moment to come good. Cometh the hour, cometh the man as we say, his knock of 76 made a lot of difference and kept one end intact," Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, it was Axar Patel who decided to take on the bowlers from one end and smashed 47 runs embellished with four sixes and a four. He shared a 72-run stand for the fourth wicket alongside Kohli and played the aggressor role, allowing the former India skipper to take his time in the middle.

Jaffer asserted that Axar's cameo ensured India maintained a healthy run-rate, which was the need of the hour at that juncture of the game.

"The most important part I thought was played by Axar Patel. The cameo that he played ensured that the run rate from India never dropped below eight runs per over. He took the attack to the South African bowlers and didn't let them settle, forming a crucial partnership with Kohli," he said.

Bow down to the true greats of the game

Meanwhile, the two giants of Indian cricket - Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirements after guiding the Men in Blue to title triumph. The duo finished their T20I careers as the two leading run-getters of the shortest format - Rohit at the top with 4231 runs and Kohli with 4188 runs.

"Two giants of the game (Rohit and Kohli) have retired from T20Is and this will certainly form a big gap. However, they rightly chose to go out on a high after winning the trophy and we should bow down to the true greats of the game. We will continue to see them in IPL, ODIs and Tests," Jaffer concluded.

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