We lost all hope, this is the stuff of dreams: Virat Kohli opens up on his emotions after T20 World Cup win

Virat Kohli has opened up on the emotions that he felt right after India won the final of the recently-concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Team India, on Saturday (June 29), beat South Africa in a thrilling final to clinch the trophy.

Virat Kohli starred with the bat to help India recover from a poor start and post a competitive total of 176/7. India were reeling at 34 for 3 inside the powerplay before Virat Kohli bailed them out with a fine knock of 76 runs. The 76 runs scored by the former India skipper was exactly one run more than what he had scored in the seven games in the competition before the final.

He had faced severe criticism from several quarters for his poor run in the tournament but roared back to form just when India needed his services the most. Chasing 177 for their maiden T20 World Cup title, South Africa were on 151/4 after 16 overs.

They were looking destined to win the game but India's bowlers had other plans. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya came up with a remarkable effort in the last four overs to restrict South Africa to 169/8 and power India to a monumental victory.

This was meant to be: Virat Kohli

In a video posted by Star Sports, Virat Kohli opened up on how he felt after the game ended. The batting star admitted that the players were well aware of the team's failure to win the ICC competition in recent times. India had not won an ICC tournament since 2013 before winning the T20 World Cup.

Virat Kohli further said that he felt like the victory in the T20 World Cup was meant to be. He also admitted that the players had lost all hope at one point in the game before the comeback happened and called the victory stuff of dreams.

"You start remembering the journey, every tournament we go to, you know how much pressure we play under. Playing under such pressure and then relentlessly trying. The whole journey comes to mind, that we won the last Champions Trophy in 2013, after that, we kept trying, there were many finals and semifinals," said Virat Kohli.

"But I just felt like this was meant to be, like I said, the way the match went. I felt so grateful during the lap. I never thought that this day would be like this, that the match would be like this. There was a moment when we lost all hope, it felt like the match was over, but then the comeback happened. This is the stuff of dreams," he added.

This is what years of hard work and dedication look like 🥹

We still can't fully grasp the emotions and joy of becoming T20 World champions for the second time. Thank you, @imVkohli! 😍

Tune in to watch the celebrations all day long, TODAY, only on Star Sports Network pic.twitter.com/bt8DSBfKig

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 30, 2024