Bridgetown: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20 Internationals (T20Is) after guiding the team to their second World Cup in the format, describing it as the perfect time to "say goodbye".
This was shortly after his long-time teammate Virat Kohli brought curtains down on his T20I career minutes after India defeated South Africa by seven runs at the Kensington Oval in the final.
"This was my last game as well. No better time to say goodbye. I wanted this (trophy) badly. It's very hard to put in words," Rohit told the post-match press conference.
"This what I wanted and it happened. I was very desperate for this in my life. Happy that we crossed the line this time," he added.
The 37-year-old had led India in the 2022 T20 World Cup where the team was ousted in the semifinals by eventual champions England.
A year later, India reached the final of the 50-over World Cup at home under his leadership, but succumbed to Australia in the summit clash at Ahmedabad.
Rohit leaves T20Is with 4,231 runs from 159 matches, having made five hundreds and 32 fifties. He continues to be active in the Test and ODI formats.
The 35-year-old Kohli produced a match-winning knock of 76 in his final international game in this format to set up India's seven-run win in the humdinger at the Kensington Oval.
"This was my last T20 game playing for India," an emotional Kohli, 35, said after collecting the player-of-the-match award.
"Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward."
Kohli retires from the format with 4,188 runs from 125 T20Is with a strike rate of 137.
Considered a modern batting great, Kohli has not been in the best of form in the tournament but saved his best for the final.
India were in big trouble at 34/3 when he combined with Axar Patel to help his side post 176/7, the highest total in a T20 World Cup final.
"This is exactly what we wanted to achieve," Kohli said.
"It was an amazing game. One day you feel like you can't get a run but one day, things just click.
"I am so proud to get the runs for the team the day it mattered most. The occasion prompted that change for me, I felt like it was now-or-never.
"We have wanted to lift a trophy for a long time. The occasion made me put my head down, respect the situation and play the innings that the team needed from me."
This was India's first global title since winning the 2013 Champions Trophy.
"It hasn't quite sunk in for me yet. It's an amazing day," Kohli added.
