Virat Kohli put on a show with the bat in India’s nail-biting four-wicket victory over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 match at MCG on Sunday (October 23).
Chasing 160 to win, the Men in Blue were reeling at 31/4 at one stage. Amid the pressure situation, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya added 113 runs for the fifth wicket to keep India in the hunt.
In the process, Kohli notched up his half-century off 43 balls and after the milestone, he wreaked havoc on the Pakistani bowlers.
Virat was the chief architect as India smashed Shaheen Afridi for 17 runs in the 18th over and Haris Rauf for 15 runs in the penultimate over to make the equation – 16 off last 6 balls.
While Pandya lost his wicket on the first delivery of the final over to Mohammad Nawaz, Kohli held the one end firmly and hit the left-arm spinner for a six off no ball and then ran three to almost seal the deal for India.
In the end, Nawaz’s wide and R Ashwin’s single took India over the finishing line on the very last as Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 off 53 balls, including 6 fours and 4 sixes.
After his match-winning knock, Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma shared an emotional post for the love of her life on Instagram.
She posted heartfelt moments from India’s victory featuring Virat Kohli and wrote: “You beauty!! You freaking beauty!! You have brought sooooo much joy in peoples lives tonight and that too on the eve of Diwali!”
“You are a wonderful wonderful man my love. Your grit, determination and belief is mind boggling !! I have just watched the best match of my life I can say and although our daughter is too small to understand why her mother was dancing around and screaming wildly in the room, one day she will understand that her dad played his best innings that night which followed after a phase that was tough on him but he came out of it stronger and wiser than ever before!
“So proud of you !! Your strength is contagious and you my love, are LIMITLESS!! Love you forever and through thick and thin,” she added.
Following the match, Kohli also termed his masterful knock against Pakistan at MCG as the best T20I innings of his career so far.
“Till today Mohali was my best innings against Australia. Today I will count this one higher. Hardik kept pushing me. The crowd has been phenomenal. You guys (fans) kept backing me and I am grateful for your support,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony after receiving the Player of the Match award.
