After India’s nail-biting victory over Pakistan in their T20 World Cup 2022 opener, skipper Rohit Sharma revealed the message that Virat Kohli gave to the team in the pep talk.
The Men in Blue defeated the arch-rivals by four wickets at MCG on Sunday (October 23) thanks to Kohli’s awe-inspiring 82* off 53 balls while chasing the target of 160.
Ahead of the match, Kohli was seen addressing the Indian team huddle and Rohit said the former captain told the group to "focus on what we need to do".
"Pep-talk? Yeah no, I mean, it was just about the occasion. Obviously, some of the (India) guys have not played in Australia and some of the guys were playing for the first time in the World Cup and seeing 90,000 people (at the Melbourne Cricket Ground). It is not going to be easy," Rohit said after the match.
"And that is what he said. Just we need to hold ourselves and we need to focus on what we need to do, because we are here to do a job. Obviously, there will be a lot of support on the ground for us. So it was just focus on what we need to do, and our full focus has to be (on) what we need to get out of this game."
Chasing the target, India were in dire straits at 31/4 after 6.1 overs. Amid the pressure situation, Kohli rose to the occasion, sharing a 113-run stand with Hardik Pandya (40 off 37 balls) to put India on the brink of victory, which was eventually sealed by R Ashwin with a single on the last delivery of the match.
Earlier, India restricted Pakistan to 159/8 after opting to bowl first. Arshdeep Singh (3-32) and Hardik Pandya (3-30) starred with the ball, picking three wickets each. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-22) and Mohammad Shami (1-25) also bowled economically and returned with one scalp each.
Team India will next face Netherlands in their Super 12 match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on October 23.
(India Today inputs)
