Former India head coach Ravi Shastri heaped praise on Virat Kohli after the batting superhero guided Team India to a memorable 4-wicket win over Pakistan in their Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday (October 23).
Kohli took the centre stage to play a dreamy knock of an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls to help India avoid an embarrassing defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan in the last-over thriller at the MCG that will be remembered for ages.
His knock was one of the best in T20I cricket history, allowing India to avenge last year's T20 World Cup defeat by Pakistan.
Well, it was a befitting response to the critics who have been questioning Kohli’s place in India’s T20I team, and Shastri also said that the former Indian skipper has shut down his naysayers with a dreamy knock against Pakistan at the MCG on Sunday.
The former coach also stated that he has seen what Kohli had gone through over the last three years, so his MCG heroics is just unbelievable.
Notably, the dashing right-hander was struggling for runs across the three formats for three years before making an amazing comeback in the Asia Cup 2022, and now his knock in the crucial match proved why he was king with the bat, after which he couldn’t hold his emotions in front of a packed MCG crowd.
Ravi Shastri told Star Sports: “It meant a lot, especially in the last few overs to keep that cool. Especially for Virat Kohli, I have seen what he has gone through in the last 3 years. If he needed a stage to make people… he chose the right stage. He has shut everybody up with that innings of real quality.”
He added, “As they say, Cometh the hour, cometh the stage, cometh the man. he came to the party in the biggest of all contests, India vs Pakistan. I don't think he has played a better T20I innings. Towards the end of the innings, some of the shot-making against high-quality bowling was high-class.”
On the tough time he went through for a longer period, the former captain said: “He is enjoying himself. He has gone through a period when you do so well at the level, the expectations of the country on your shoulders every time you go out to play. You are also human, you are bound to go through a rough patch. Tell me one cricketer who hasn't gone through a rough patch.”
Shastri signed off by saying, “The biggest in the game. His extended for some time. He took a break from the game, albeit just for a month and a month and a half. On the big stage, he comes back refreshed. To come out there, stay not out in the end and win a game for India, is unbelievable.”
