New Delhi [India], June 29 : On this day last year, not only did India end their 11-year-long ICC trophy drought by winning the ICC T20 World Cup with a seven-run win over South Africa at Barbados, but two of their greatest icons, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bid goodbye to the shortest format of the game after dominating it for more than a decade and setting new benchmarks for the upcoming generation.
A clutch knock from Virat during the final of 76 runs and the tactical brilliance of skipper Rohit Sharma to unleash a pace choke in the death overs paid off as two of the biggest legends to wear India's iconic Blue colours got a well-deserved farewell from T20Is filled with milestones, individual accolades and ICC T20 World Cup Trophy.
Hitman, the double T20 World Cup Champion setting new benchmarks of brutality
Since introducing himself to the world as an elegant, baby-faced hitter during the 2007 T20 World Cup, during which he played vital cameos and put up a total of 88 runs in three matches, including a vital 30* in 16 against Pakistan in final and a half-century, the 'Hitman' went through plenty of ups and downs.
Struggling to find consistency, truly justifying his talent in the middle-order, a shift to opening under the captaincy of MS Dhoni was one of those 'Dhoni Magic' moments which changed the sport forever. Soon, Rohit found himself struggling to contain all the runs he had not fired over the years, unleashing a wide array of shots, particularly his much beloved pull shot.
The superstar bowed out of the tournament as top T20I run-getter, with 4,231 runs in 159 matches and 151 innings at an average of 32.05, with a strike rate of 140.89. He has also scored five centuries, most by a batter in the format and 32 half-centuries, with the best individual score of 121*.
During his 17-year-long T20I career, Rohit hit a total of 205 sixes, the most by a batter. He still remains the only batter to have hit 200 or more sixes in the shortest format.
He also holds the record for the fastest T20I century for India, in just 35 balls against Sri Lanka in 2017, slamming 118 in 43 balls, with 12 fours and 10 sixes.
Before this tournament, Rohit was not known for setting T20 World Cups on fire with his hitting, as his resume read: 88 runs in three innings with a fifty (2007), 131 runs in five innings at an average of 32.75 with a half-century (2009), 84 runs in three matches at an average of 84.00 with a fifty (2010), 82 runs in five matches at an average of 41.00 with a fifty (2012), 200 runs in six matches at an average of 40.00 with two fifties (2014), 88 runs in five matches at an average of 17.60 (2016) and 174 runs in five matches at an average of 34.80 with two half-centuries (2021).
Despite some fantastic knocks scattered throughout these World Cups, a 'Player of the Tournament' calibre tournament looked like a dream as he often failed in knockout matches. Some half-centuries scored against now-depleted/minnows West Indies, Afghanistan and Scotland did not help his stature in this tournament either.
However, during this tournament, Hitman, pained by losing a home 50-over World Cup at Ahmedabad last year to Australia, arrived with fire and vengeance in his mind. He delivered his best-ever T20 WC campaign, with 257 runs in eight matches at an average of 36.71, a strike rate of 156.71 and three half-centuries.
His knock against Australia, a 41-ball 92 laced with seven fours and eight sixes became an instant classic. During this inning, he gave a fiery Mitchell Starc his most expensive T20 over, carting him for 29 runs, including a four and four extremely disdainful sixes. He topped it all off with a ruthless 100 m hit to the roof of the stadium to skipper Pat Cummins, who silenced the Ahmedabad crowd in November 2023 and left Rohit teary-eyed after missing out on his ultimate dream that god seemed to have served on a silver platter until Cummins snatched it from him.
He came good against England in the semifinals too, scoring a classy 39-ball 57, with six fours and two sixes to power India to a match-winning 171/7. The campaign was one to remember for Rohit as not only did he become a double T20 World Cup champion, but saved his best for the very last.
In his T20 WC career, Rohit ended as the third-highest run-getter, with 1,220 runs at an average of 34.85, with a strike rate of 133.04 and 12 fifties. His best score was 92.
-'King Kohli', the ultimate match-winner delivering the goods even at his worst
For years, Virat remained as the benchmark in the T20 World Cup, delivering two 'Player of the Tournament' performances in 2014 (319 runs in six matches at an average of 106.33 with four half-centuries) and 2016 (273 runs in five matches at an average of 136.50, with three fifties).
The 2014 edition saw him smash the most runs by a batter in a single T20 WC edition, and the 2016 was a massive one-man carry job to the semifinals, with the second-highest run-getter for India being MS Dhoni with 89 runs in five innings. During these tournaments, Kohli batted his heart out, brought his A+ against arch-rivals Pakistan, battered Australians and developed a knockout record envious by every batter.
During the 2016 edition semifinal against West Indies, he batted, scored 89* in 47 balls, bowled, took a wicket, did everything, but still saw his dream get snatched at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
After a nightmarish T20 WC 2021, which saw India crash out in Group Stage under his captaincy with losses to painful losses to Pakistan and New Zealand, he delivered a late-career masterclass in Australia during the 2022 edition, topping the run-charts with 296 runs in six matches at a Bradman-esque average of 98.66 and four fifties. But still, it seemed his batting template of taking it deep and exploding in death overs seemed to have become old as England handed them a crushing 10-wicket loss at Adelaide in the semis, during which he hit a 40-ball 50, which was criticised heavily.
After the 'Ro-Ko' were phased out of the side following the tournament to pave way for the young and explosive crop of IPL stars, India seemed to be doing really well and they earned a recall last year. While Rohit set the tone for his monstrous final T20I run with 121* in 69 balls against Afghanistan, Virat struggled to adapt to a much-more attacking approach.
During the early stages of the IPL, Virat's tempo came under scanner despite his consistent scoring. In trademark Virat fashion, he responded back, not only on the microphone with skills of a WWE wrestler cutting promos, but with the bat as well. Virat walked out of IPL 2024 covered with fire literally, winning the Orange Cap for 741 runs with a century and five fifties with a career-best strike rate of over 154.
He adapted to the modern T20 style, tonking 38 sixes, his most in an IPL and brought out a wider array of shots and aggression against spin, missing previously. Despite massive and at this point, normal expectations from Virat to deliver an all-timer, he failed throughout the tournament, literally gift-wrapping his wicket to the bowlers with his poor shot-making in the name of 'intent'. Virat was not Virat'ing at all, as the modern slang says. He had scored just 75 runs in seven innings with a best score of 37, giving away his wicket in the most un-Virat fashion.
But as all the greats do, Virat saved his best for the finals, playing a measured 76 in 59 balls, with six fours and two sixes, guiding India to from 34/3 to a match-winning 176/7.
Virat bowed out of the tournament with a match-winning fifty, POTM trophy and the World Cup title to his name, passing on the baton to the next generation. He ended among the top three run-getters, currently third, with 4,188 runs in 125 matches at an average of 48.69, with a strike rate of 37.04, a century and 38 fifties.
In 35 T20 WC matches, he topped the charts with 1,292 runs at an average of 58.72 with a strike rate of over 128, and 15 fifties.
With two 'Player of the Tournament' titles in the T20 WC, most runs in the tournament, a POTM in winning cause in the final and joint-most fifty-plus scores, he retired as the most decorated and consistent T20I batter.
During successful run-chases in T20 WCs, Virat averaged 173.00 in 12 matches, scoring 519 runs with seven fifties in 11 innings. Across all of T20Is, he has an unbelievable chasing record, with 1,651 runs in 42 matches and 39 innings, with 16 fifties at an average of 78.61.
While no doubt the exploits of newer stars like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan etc are exciting to watch, the country would not witness match-winners like this again.