New Delhi: Stylish Indian batter Virat Kohli shared a heartfelt note to his wife and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma a day after beating South Africa in a last-over thriller by seven runs to win the T20 World Cup 2024 and ending the 11-year wait of ICC title at Kensington Oval, Barbados.
India went into Saturday's title clash as one of the two unbeaten teams alongside South Africa. Player-of-the match Kohli stepped up when it mattered the most with a 59-ball 76 to help India post a competitive 176/7, the highest total in a World Cup final. His 72-run stand for the fourth wicket with Axar Patel, who made 47 off 31 balls, and a 57-run partnership with Shivam Dube, who hit a 16-ball 27, took India past the 170-run mark.
Sharing a post on 'Instagram' with a picture of his wife, Kohli wrote, "None of this would remotely be possible without you my love. You keep me humble, grounded and you always say it how it is with absolute honesty. I couldn’t be more grateful for you. This victory is as much yours as it’s mine. Thank you and I love you for being YOU @anushkasharma."
South Africa were on course to chase down the total. But Hardik Pandya taking out Heinrich Klaasen helped India come back into the match and emerge victorious to end a long global trophy drought as they restricted South Africa to 169/8. While Pandya took 3/20, Player of the Tournament Jasprit Bumrah shone with 2/18.
After delivering a match-winning knock for his team, Kohli also announced his retirement for the T20I format of the game ending his T20I career as India's second-highest run-scorer in the format, with 4188 runs in 125 games at an average of 48.69 and strike rate of 137.04.
