It was not only the whole of India and Team India members that rejoiced when the Men in Blue defeated Pakistan in their T20 World Cup 2022 opening encounter on October 23, 2022, in MCG, but former India cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Irfan Pathan, and Kris Srikkanth also celebrated in sidelines.
All three aforementioned former India cricketers are part of the Star Sports commentary panel and were on the sidelines at the MCG to witness one of the best victories India has ever achieved in the T20 World cup history.
First, the bowlers, especially Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya, who took three wickets each, kept Pakistan to 159/8 in 20 overs, though Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood hit half-centuries.
Then Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf’s brilliant attempts left India reeling at 31/4 in 6 overs before Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli stitched together a 113-run stand for the 6th wicket. While Hardik got out for 40 runs, Kohli continued and hit Rauf for two sixes in the 19th over.
With 16 runs needed off the last over by Nawaz, Kohli hit the left-armer for a six off a no-ball, and then after a wide ball, stole 3 bye runs on the free hit. After Dinesh Karthik was stumped, it was R Ashwin’s time to finish the job and he did as needed, giving India the victory on the last ball.
Irfan Pathan, who was part of the commentary team with Gavaskar and Srikkanth, shared a video where the trio was seen enjoying Ravichandran Ashwin’s winning run on the final over. Gavaskar was jumping for joy after India’s epic victory at the packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Here is the video he shared:
He also lauded Virat Kohli and Team India and also had some words for Pakistani fans:
