End of Virat Kohli’s 12-year-long battle for the T20 World Cup trophy

Kohli had decided that India would not lose that day and played accordingly, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with his 82/53.

He continued this form and helped India to another T20 World Cup semi-final, even surpassing Mahela Jayawardene as the player with the most runs in T20 World Cups.

But he was in for a bitter disappointment against England, as a half-century in the first innings was not enough to stop the British dominance led by Jos Butler and Alex Hales.

Kohli was once again India’s highest scorer in the tournament. He had won many individual accolades in the tournaments but what he so desperately craved was still out of reach.

And so came the year 2024. This was his sixth attempt to win the elusive trophy; the same number of attempts it took the great Sachin Tendulkar to win the ODI World Cup.

Kohli came into the tournament after a fantastic individual IPL series that saw him win the Orange Cap. And with the defeat in the 2023 World Cup final still fresh in his mind, many expected Kohli to enter the World Cup in his usual form, perhaps even with more verve. But that was not the case.

While India played composedly in every match, led by Rohit Sharma in batting and Jasprit Bumrah in bowling, Kohli just couldn’t get going. Coming into the final, his average was only around 10.

However, nobody was worried about his form, at least not his captain, who believed he would achieve great success in the final.

The final came and India went to bat first. Helped by some weak opening throws from Marco Jansen, Kohli got off to a good start. And then he suffered the same fate as all the years before: the top order collapsed around him.

When the hour comes, the man comes. Kohli confirmed his captain’s words and showed his usual calculating style in the final over, playing a measured innings to reach his fifty before pouncing on the bowlers. He took India to a fine 176/7 with 76 off 59 balls.

When Klassen was at his best in 15 overs and had just dismissed Axar Patel for 22, Kohli may have thought that it would all repeat itself and he would have to watch helplessly as they lost the final.

But his teammates said, “No sir, that won’t happen today.” Led by Bumrah, the bowling unit pulled off a seemingly impossible squeeze and won the 2024 T20 World Cup.

12 years ago, Virat Kohli started his hunt for the T20 World Cup trophy with a performance that made him the Man of the Match. 12 years later, he ended his T20I career with a performance that made him the Man of the Match in the final.

But more importantly, he has completed his long, hard-fought battle, marked by heartbreak and much criticism over the years, and finally lifted the one international trophy that had been missing from his collection.

Perhaps it was fitting that after carrying India’s hopes in the tournament on his shoulders for so many years, Kohli was carried to the trophy by his teammates in his final attempt to win the trophy.