Virat Kohli signed off as India’s Twenty20 captain on Monday with his last match where India beat Namibia as the cricket icon got a winning farewell. He said it had been an "honour" to captain India's Twenty20 team.
“Together as one we set out to achieve our goal. Unfortunately we fell short and no one is more disappointed than us as a side. The support from all of you has been fantastic and we are grateful for it all. We will aim to come back stronger and put our best foot forward. Jai Hind,” he told fans in a tweet.
Social media was flooded with messages from people, thanking for Kohli for leading the team. His fans trended the hashtag #ThankYouViratKohli on Twitter.
“I know it's a hard feeling to you and your fans but you have given your best,” a user wrote.
India thrashed Namibia by nine wickets in Dubai to finish with three wins from five Super 12 matches.
Kohli, who turned 33 last week, will continue to captain India in Test and one-day international cricket. He took over the T20 captaincy from MS Dhoni in 2017.
Monday’s match was also Ravi Shashtri’s last match as the team’s head coach for five years.
India finished third in its group after losing both of its opening games to eventual semi-finalists Pakistan and New Zealand.
"I know we have not gone far in this World Cup, but we have had some good results in T20 and enjoyed playing together," said Kohli, who lost the toss in both of India's defeats by Pakistan and New Zealand.
"It's a game of margins, T20 cricket. You talk about two overs of cricket with intent in the first two games and things could have been different.
"We were not brave enough, as I said. We are not a team that will give (the) excuse of tosses."
(With inputs from AFP)
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