Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 and was named the Player of the Match.
Chasing 160 to win, India recovered from 45/4 in 10 overs to needing 16 runs off the 20th over to register a famous win over Pakistan and avenge their loss in the previous edition in 2021.
Mohammad Nawaz bowled the last over and got rid of Hardik Pandya on the first ball of the over. Dinesh Karthik, the next man in, got a single off the second ball and Virat Kohli got the strike, who took two runs off the next ball.
Kohli then hit a waist-high full toss for a six on the fourth ball, which was called a no-ball. The next ball was bowled wide by Nawaz and then on the free hit, the ball hit the stumps, and Kohli and Karthik scampered for three runs as byes.
With 2 needed off 2 balls, Karthik was stumped by Rizwan off Nawaz and in walked Ashwin to take the strike. The veteran off-spinner was calm under pressure and rather took on Nawaz smartly. Knowing he would go down the leg side again, he moved inside the line and the umpire called it a wide ball.
With one needed off the last ball, Ashwin went deep against the fuller ball and lofted it over covers, enabling Kohli to cross over for a single.
After the match, Kohli hailed Ashwin for his brave decision to come back into the line. He admitted being astonished at Ashwin's act.
“When you need a run rate of 15 or 16 and you get two runs in two balls, then people might relax a bit, might get over excited as well thinking that the rest is done. Then Dinesh Karthik got out. Then I told Ash to hit the ball over covers. But Ash, usne dimaag ke upar extra dimaag lagaya. That was a brave thing for him to do. Came inside the line, made that into a wide ball. The situation next was if he could get the ball through the gaps, we would definitely win the match,” he told Star Sports after the match.
India will next play against the Netherlands on October 27.