niyati goyal:
MELBOURNE: Welcome to the T20 World Cup. Welcome to Virat Kohli’s world. All 90,293 breathless spectators, Indians and Pakistanis, stood up as one at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to applaud the brilliance of India’s most complete all-format batter after he hit 82 not out off 53 balls to pull off one of India’s most memorable victories in their T20 history. Kohli took control of a chase of 160 in the company of Hardik Pandya on a pacy, bouncy pitch after India had collapsed to 31/4 in 6.1 overs. Kohli and Pandya believed, putting on 113 runs for the fifth wicket as India got out of jail by four wickets. Virat Kohli single-handedly powered India to an epic four-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan with a magnificent 53-ball 82 not out in their big-ticket T20 World Cup game here on Sunday. Pakistan recovered from a wobbly start to post a fighting 159 for eight. India completed the chase in the last ball, with Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40) doing the bulk of the scoring after a horror start to their innings.
Kohli later revealed that after the end of 18 overs, with India still needing 31 off the last two, he decided he would take on Pakistan’s most fiery, best bowler on the day, Haris Rauf. “If I could take Haris down, they would panic,” he said. It was an approach only the most audacious, the most desperate or the most talented can take. It came off. Kohli said he “will count this higher” than his 82* off 51 balls against Australia in Mohali (in 2016 T20 WC), which “was my best innings” so far.
The fifth ball, Kohli came up with an incredible shot, a six straight over the bowler’s head which Hardik Pandya later described, shaking his head, as “unbelievable”. The next one was another six, a six over fine leg, and Rauf, the MCG veteran who plays for Melbourne Stars, was down on his knees. The momentum had shifted. “That was the moment when we knew it had come our way,” skipper Rohit Sharma later said. India still needed 16 from the last over but they knew they would face the slow left-arm spin of Mohammad Nawaz. “I bowled out the quicks earlier because we needed wickets. That was the call I took,” Pakistan skipper Babar Azam would say later. The first ball, Hardik mistimed a slog straight to cover point. Fourth ball, Kohli hit a full toss for six, and it was called a no-ball for height! Pakistan was choking. One wide and three byes later, with two needed off two, Dinesh Karthik was stumped before Ashwin sealed the deal.
In the end, Kohli’s brilliance overshadowed them all.