Virat Kohli insists he still has full motivation to continue playing for India in the T20 format, after his tenure as captaincy came to an end.
India beat Namibia by nine wickets on Monday, in what was Kohli's last match as skipper in the shortest format of the game.
Their hopes of reaching the T20 World Cup semi-finals had already been ended on Sunday, when New Zealand beat Afghanistan to secure the last available place in the next round.
Kohli, who turned 33 last week, announced before the tournament that he would be stepping down from leading India in T20Is, though he will stay on as ODI and Test captain.
While still eager to play a vital role for the team in T20Is, Kohli believes he has made the right decision for his career.
"Relief, firstly! It's been an honour, but things have to be kept in the right perspective and I thought that this was the right time for me to manage my workload," Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
"Six, seven years of intense cricket, every time you take the field, it takes a lot out of you. It's been amazing, so much fun, a great bunch of guys who played together for so long, we really performed well as a team.
"I know we haven't gone further in this tournament but we have played some really good cricket as a team. It's something we've all enjoyed, so many years playing together, it's absolutely made my job much easier.
"The way we played the last three games, it's a game of margins in T20 cricket. We were not brave enough in the first two games, we suffered because of that and we knew that it was going to be complicated for us to go through."
Asked if he would still retain the same hunger as he has shown as captain, Kohli replied: "For me if I can't do that, I will not play this game anymore.
"That's been my goal from day one, even when I wasn't captain, I was always keen to learn, keen to know where the game is going.
"I'm always going to be around with my point of view and anything I can do for the team, I'm not a guy who's just going to stand around and do nothing, I'll always want to give 120 per cent on the field.
With India chasing a target of 133, Kohli chose not to come out and bat after Rohit Sharma - who surpassed 3,000 runs in T20Is - was dismissed for 56, instead sending out Suryakumar Yadav, whose 25 off 19 deliveries paved the way for the excellent KL Rahul (54) to seal victory.
"Surya didn't get too much game time in this World Cup, it's a T20 World Cup at the end of the day, I thought it would be a nice memory for him to take back as well," Kohli explained.
Kohli's T20 tenure in numbers
Kohli has been captain of India in all formats since 2017, having taken over the limited-overs responsibilities from the great MS Dhoni.
In total, he won 30 of his 50 T20Is as skipper (60 per cent), suffering 16 defeats, while two games were tied and two matches did not finish.
India's highest score of 240-3 during his spell as captain came against the West Indies at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium in December 2019, while a low point for Kohli's team came earlier in this World Cup, when they were limited to 110-7 by New Zealand.
Pakistan, led by the supreme Babar Azam, thrashed India by 10 wickets in the Super 12s opener, and they are the only nation Kohli failed to beat in the format while captain.
Indeed, Kohli is the only Indian captain to lose a World Cup game in any format against Pakistan.
Kohli's won seven games against England, out of 11 meetings, while he also managed an impressive four wins against Australia.
Across his 11 innings against Eoin Morgan's side, he scored 393 runs. Incredibly, he has not yet managed to score a century in the format, with his 94 not out against West Indies in 2019 his highest tally.
As T20 captain, Kohli has scored 1,570 runs from 46 innings, averaging 47.6 at a strike rate of 141. He surpassed 50 on 13 occasions, striking 114 boundaries and 59 sixes.
Gurbaz makes history as Afghanistan thrash South Africa
Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored his seventh ODI century, setting Afghanistan on their way to a dominant 177-run win over South Africa on Friday.
Afghanistan now have an unassailable 2-0 lead in their ODI series, with South Africa unable to mount any sort of threat in the sweltering heat in Sharjah.
Gurbaz set the tone from the off with his stand of 105 from 110 balls, which included 10 fours and three sixes, and put together a 101-run partnership with Rahmat Shah (50).
Nandre Burger eventually took Gurbaz, but Azmatullah Omarzai kept the pressure on with his unbeaten 86, bringing up his fastest ODI fifty, as they finished on 311-4.
With the intimidating target set, South Africa's chase got off to a decent start through Temba Bavuma (38) and Tony de Zorzi (31), but Afghanistan's bowlers soon stepped up their game.
Rashid Khan (5-19) and Nangeyalia Kharote (4-26) gave their opponents little to work with as none of the final seven batters hit double figures, with South Africa slumping to 134 all out in the 35th over.
Data Debrief: A historic stand
Gurbaz's century was his seventh in ODIs, breaking Mohammad Shahzad's record, while Shah brought up his 29th half-century in their brilliant stand.
Afghanistan's 177-run win against SA is their largest margin of victory in terms of runs in ODIs, beating their 154-win against Zimbabwe. It was also the tenth time they topped 300 in ODI cricket, and the first against South Africa.
CWI announces re-election of Azim Bassarath as vice president
Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced the re-election of Azim Bassarath to the role of Vice President of its Board of Directors.
Pursuant to the CWI Articles of Association, a Special Meeting of Members was convened on Friday for the sole purpose of electing a new Vice President.
At the close of nominations, Mr. Bassarath was the sole candidate, having been nominated by the Jamaica Cricket Association and Leeward Islands Cricket Board. The nominations were circulated as customary, and every territorial board, which constitutes the shareholders, was adequately notified.
Of his re-election Azim Bassarath said, “I’m excited to return to my duties for the good of West Indies cricket, working alongside my dedicated colleagues at Cricket West Indies. Since March of 2023 when myself and Dr Shallow took over, we made great strides in the most popular format of the game – T20 and we are determined to continue making these strides in the other two international formats. I have committed and remain committed to serving with integrity and respect for the process, while upholding the best governance practices. This vote of confidence signals that we can move forward with the business of cricket and deliver the results shareholders and fans across the region and around the world are eager to see, under the leadership of Dr. Kishore Shallow.”
All Territorial Boards except the Guyana Cricket Board attended the Special Meeting of the Members. Guided by its Articles of Association, CWI reaffirms its unwavering commitment to democratic principles and transparency.
At the close of the meeting, CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow thanked members for their participation and reiterated calls for unity amongst West Indies Cricket stakeholders.
CWI will host its next quarterly board meeting on September 28, 2024. The meeting will be held in Trinidad and Tobago.
Chandimal and Karunaratne hand Sri Lanka comfortable advantage
Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne forged a 147-run partnership to propel hosts Sri Lanka to a lead of 202 on day three of the first Test against New Zealand.
Chandimal (61) and Karunaratne (83) notched 12 fours between them, having seen Pathum Nissanka (two) fall inside the first two overs to Will O'Rourke (3-37).
New Zealand resumed on 255-4 but were restricted to adding just 95 runs to their overnight total, with Prabath Jayasuriya (4-136) starring for the hosts.
Nissanka's early dismissal handed the tourists a lifeline, only for Chandimal and Karunaratne to take centre stage and increase Sri Lanka's advantage.
Karunaratne's innings came to an end after being bowled out by Ajaz Patel (1-68), with Chandimal following his partner in the following over.
However, steadying knocks from both Angelo Mathews (34 not out) and Dhananjaya de Silva (34 not out) saw the Lions inch toward their hard-earned lead at stumps.
Data Debrief: Double trouble for Sri Lanka
Chandimal and Karunaratne took the fight to New Zealand, with their respective innings coming to a close with impressive numbers to show for it.
Karunaratne ended with a strike rate of 65.35 from the 127 deliveries he faced, while Chandimal finished on 40.67 having batted against 23 more balls than his team-mate.
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