Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from the shortest format of cricket after the Men in Blue won the T20 World Cup final against South Africa on Saturday.

“This was going to be my last T20 World Cup playing for India. It’s time for the next generation to take over,” he said after receiving the Player of the Match award for his brilliant knock of 76 off 59 deliveries in the final. “One day you feel like you cannot get a run and then this happens.”

His knock was pivotal in India’s 177-run target as they lost three early wickets in the powerplay.

Kohli was seen having tears of joy after the last delivery of the match as India won the T20 World Cup after 17 years. They had won their first trophy under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2007.

The former Indian skipper, along with his team, were trending on social media.

“It was a now-or-never kind of situation,” he said and added that the announcement of the tournament being his last T20 game was an “open secret.”

Kohli added that he would have announced it even if they had lost the final. “It is difficult to hold emotions back and feels that it is going to sink in later.”

According to Rohit Sharma, no one was in doubt about Kohli’s form. “We know the quality he has and come the occasion the big players will stand up.”