5 popular Indian cricketers who played their last T20I against South Africa ft. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma

The T20I format has gained enormous popularity in the last two decades. When ICC gave a chance to T20 cricket at the international level, not many cricket boards took the format seriously.

However, after the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, which India won, all nations started focusing more on the shortest format.

India and South Africa have a rich cricketing history together. While India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa, the Men in Blue's first-ever T20I was also against the Proteas. Besides, South Africa played their first-ever ODI after being reinstated as a Test-playing nation against India in 1991.

The India-South Africa rivalry has also marked the end of some careers. Here's a list of five popular Indian cricketers who played their last T20I against the Proteas.

---

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar played only one T20I in his career. It was India's first-ever T20I, which happened against the Proteas on December 1, 2006, in Johannesburg.

Tendulkar bowled 2.3 overs in the first innings and returned with figures of 1/12, dismissing Justin Kemp. Later in the game, he scored 10 runs off 12 balls before Charl Langeveldt cleaned him up.

---

#2 Virat Kohli

Like his idol Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli also played his career's last T20I against the Proteas. It was the 2024 T20 World Cup final at the Kensington Oval on Saturday, June 29, with Kohli opening the batting.

Kohli played a match-winning 76-run knock and helped India become the champions for the second time. The right-handed batter won the Man of the Match award and announced his retirement from the shortest format in the post-match interview.

---

#3 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma made his T20I debut during the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. Seventeen years later, he ended his career after the 2024 T20 World Cup final against the Proteas.

The Indian captain, who won his first ICC trophy as skipper, scored nine runs in the summit clash. After the game, Rohit announced his T20I retirement at the press conference.

---

#4 Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja was India's primary all-rounder in T20Is for a long time. He won his first T20 World Cup on Saturday as India beat South Africa in the final.

Following in the footsteps of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Jadeja also announced his retirement from T20Is. He scored two runs and returned with figures of 0/12 in the final T20I of his career.

---

#5 Zaheer Khan

It is rare to see a fast bowler being dropped from a T20I squad after taking three wickets. However, it happened with Zaheer Khan as the left-arm pacer never got a chance to play for India after his match-winning spell of 3/22 (four overs) against South Africa in the Super 8s round of the 2012 T20 World Cup.

Zaheer dismissed Hashim Amla for a duck before getting rid of Farhaan Behardien and Robin Peterson. India beat the Proteas by one run but got eliminated due to poor net run rate.

Although Zaheer was active in the IPL till 2017, he never got an opportunity to don the Indian jersey again after the 2012 T20 World Cup.