India skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday (May 30) revisited his iconic 183-run knock against Pakistan in the group match of the 2012 Asia Cup in Dhaka.
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It was a high-scoring affair in which Pakistan piled up 329/6 in 50 overs on the back of brilliant centuries from Mohammad Hafeez (105) and Nasir Jamshed (112).
In reply, India rode on Kohli’s masterful 148-ball 183 (22 fours and 2 sixes) to overhaul the daunting target with 6 wickets and 13 balls to spare.
"Their bowling attack was quite potent. At the time they were a really challenging bowling attack because of the variations," Virat said in an Instagram live video chat with his Indian teammate Ravichandran Ashwin.
"There was (Shahid) Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema and there was Hafeez as well. For the first 20-25 overs the conditions were clearly in their favour but I remember I was just happy batting next to paaji (Sachin Tendulkar). It turned out to be his last ODI innings and he scored a 50 and we got a 100-run partnership so that was a memorable anecdote for me."
Kohli said it was one of a string of innings he had at the time which gave him the confidence of doing well against any bowling attack in the world.
"It naturally happened because I was constantly boosting myself up to want those situations to happen. I think that turned out to be a game-changer for me," he said.
During that chase, India lost Gautam Gambhir in the very first over for a duck. Subsequently, Kohli shared a 133-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar (52 off 48 balls) for the second wicket and followed it up with a 172-run partnership with Rohit Sharma, who scored 68 off 83 balls.
"It was a Sunday I remember, India-Pakistan match so the whole country is watching and everyone takes notice.
"I fondly remember that chase it was really tough, Rohit (Sharma) played brilliantly and in the end MS (Dhoni) and (Suresh) Raina finished with three overs to spare or something chasing 330 which was quite memorable," the current Indian captain further recalled.
Kohli also remembers that game for getting the better of Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal, who was at the peak of his powers in 2012.
"I constantly remember that game and you spoke about Saeed Ajmal who was at his peak. I clearly remember we played a T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. In a warm-up game (against Pakistan) I started telling myself that I am going to start playing him like a leg-spinner.
"His doosra was quite difficult to face but his off spinner was not that lethal so I said I am going to hit him over covers consistently and it just paid off. As soon as I negated his doosra, his potency became lesser and even in that game (in Dhaka) I scored most of my runs against him through the offside. My only aim was to make him fear bowling the doosra against me."
(With IANS inputs)
