Virat Kohli's fairytale knock gave India a pre-Diwali gift as Men in Blue pulled off a four-wicket victory in a cracker of a contest against arch-rivals Pakistan in their T20 World Cup opener at the MCG on Sunday (October 23).
Kohli cracked whip with a 82-run unbeaten knock to take India past the victory line and proved once again why he is considered as the greatest of the game.
King Kohli, as his fans call him, conjured up a magical and memorable knock, which was loaded with six fours and four sixes, to anchor a chase of 160 which became tricky after India were left in tatters at 31/4.
The batting juggernaut went emotional after the surreal knock and became speechless in the post match presentation. Kohli thanked his fans who kept him going in the time he was struggling.
"Well, it's a surreal atmosphere. I honestly have no words. I have no idea how that happened. Hardik kept telling me, just believe we can stay till the end. I'm lost for words. Well, I think when Shaheen bowled from the Pavilion end, I told Hardik we have to take him down. The calculation was simple. Nawaz had one over to bowl, so if I could take Haris down, they would panic. It came down to 16 off 6. I'm kind of lost for words. [On the two sixes off Rauf:] It's just instinctively I saw it, told myself to stay still. The one at long-on was unexpected, it was a back-of-a-length slower ball. The fine leg one, I just threw my bat at it. Till today I said Mohali was my best T20 innings. Then I got 80 off 52, today I got 80 off 53. Both are just as special. All these months when I was struggling, you guys [the crowd] kept me going. Thank you so much," Kohli said in the post match presentation.
Hardik Pandya, the most important cog in India's T20 wheel, struck 40 off 37 balls in a partnership of 113.
His ability to win matches for India coming under the scanner due to a prolonged lean patch, Kohli sang the perfect redemption song on the grandest stage.
It started in the 19th over when he sent one from Haris Rauf on his hunches and pulled off two back-to-back sixes.
Cricket indeed is a leveller as Rauf, after 22 splendid deliveries bowled two bad ones and it changed the complexion of the game.
With 16 needed off last six balls, Pandya holed out off Mohammed Nawaz's bowling and with rule of crossover non existent, Dinesh Karthik faced his first delivery and took a single.
With 14 needed off three balls, Nawaz’s juicy full-toss was dispatched for a six over square leg and it was called a no-ball after deliberation by on-field umpires.
Nawaz, the hero of Pakistan's Super 4 victory in the Asia Cup, by then had lost his nerves.
After Karthik was stumped by an alert Mohammed Rizwan, Nawaz bowled a wide and Ravichandran Ashwin scored the most important boundary of his career.
'Chak De India' reverberating around the MCG never sounded sweeter and Kohli seemed numb. He punched ground, took a long walk back, showed thumbs up to the crowd having restored India’s supremacy at a global event.
Earlier, Arshdeep bowled a dream first spell and Pandya displayed his true worth in the back-10 as India restricted Pakistan to a manageable 159 for eight.
If Arshdeep (3/32) removed skipper Babar Azam (0) and Rizwan (4) in his first two overs to set the tone, Pandya (3/30) rekindled memories of his Asia Cup heroics by consistently hitting hard lengths at brisk pace, letting the pitch do the rest.
Iftikhar Ahmed (51) was the only batter who looked like taking the attack back to India as the spinners Ashwin and Axar Patel (1/21) did struggle a bit and it was designated sixth bowler Pandya who finished his full quota.
Shan Masood (52) struck a half-century but never looked comfortable during his 42-ball knock.
