Sachin Tendulkar sidelined as former Indian cricketer labels Virat Kohli the 'Greatest Indian Batsman'

Virat Kohli scored 76 off 59 balls in the T20 World Cup final paving the path for India's victory in many ways. It eventually proved to be his last T20I innings as he retired from the format after India's T20 World Cup win.

After scoring just 75 runs in his first seven games in the T20 World Cup, Kohli saved his best for the last. He scored 76 as he anchored the innings after the early loss of Rohit Sharma. India were 34/3 inside the powerplay when Kohli decided to drop anchor.

In his post-match interaction and also during his interaction with PM Narendra Modi, Kohli spoke about letting go of his ego that allowed him to play the knock he did. India's decision to open with him in the World Cup did not yield anything positive until his final knock.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former Indian cricketer while talking to Star Sports praised no ends about Virat Kohli and his legacy in Indian cricket.

"In this tournament, even when he scored 38 and 24, he didn't let the run rate drop. There was a different kind of Virat. Virat Kohli, a man of adversity, a man of masses, a master performer, a genius" said Sidhu on Kohli.

Najvot Singh Sidhu On Virat Kohli

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In another major statement, he said "Virat Kohli is the Greatest Indian Batsman Ever seen". The way he said it, he kept him even ahead of Sachin Tendulkar in the list of greatest batsman to play the game.

Kohli ended his T20I career with finally a T20 World Cup title to his name. He has also won 16 Player of the Match awards in T20Is still leading the pack and with two Player Of The Tournament awards in T20 World Cups.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja ended their T20I careers just after India's T20 World Cup win. Kohli ended his T20I career with 4188 runs in 125 matches at an average of 48.7 and a strike rate touching 140.

He scored 38 fifties and a hundred in the format and remained not out on 31 occasions. Currently, he is the second-highest run-getter in the format with Rohit Sharma (4231) leading the race. Babar Azam is placed third with 4145 runs in 123 matches so far.

Kohli and Rohit both had tears in their eyes after India won the T20 World Cup. This is the first ICC that the dup won together. India's World Cup win brought an end to India's ICC title drought to an end after 13 years. This was also their second T20 World Cup win in 17 years. In between they won the IC Champions Trophy in 2013.

Between 2014 and 2023, India lost in the semi-finals or the final of every ICC event barring the 2021 T20 World Cup when they had a league stage exit.

"This was going to be my last T20 World Cup playing for India. It's time for the next generation to take over. It's a 2-year cycle and there are some amazing players playing in India and they are going to take the team forward in the T20 format and do wonders as we have seen them do in the IPL and I have no doubts that they will keep the flags waving high and take this team further from here now" said Kohli as he confirmed his T20I retirement