Batting juggernaut Virat Kohli put up a volcanic knock to script India's most memorable victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in a cracker of their T20 World Cup opener on Sunday (October 23).
Three days on, the scenes are still vivid in everyone's eyes as to how Kohli pulled off the victory in India's pocket from the jaws of possible defeats when the chips were down.
Kohli's magical 82 off 53 left the cricket pundits awestruck.
Meanwhile, India's legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, who won the first World Cup title for India back in 1983, is still in awe of Kohli's knock, especially, that unbelievable six which he hit off Haris Rauf in the penultimate over that turned the face of the match.
He said that this shot will be watched as many times as people saw MS Dhoni's 6 off Nuwan Kulasekara to win the 2011 World Cup.
"Hitting the straight six off a slower ball is very tough. This six might be watched as many times we watched the six hit by MS Dhoni to win the 2011 World Cup. We will watch this six 1000 times. Virat Kohli made the game, like we used to say that MS Dhoni takes the game deep, in the same manner, Virat did it against Pakistan. We were discussing it, that if anyone can help the team win from this situation, it is Virat Kohli," Kapil Dev said on ABP News.
Dramatic final two overs
The equation came down to 28 off 8 balls. In the penultimate over, Kohli took on Rauf hitting him for two consecutive sixes off the final two deliveries. Haris Rauf bowled a slower one on the fifth ball of the 19th over but Kohli backed away to slam the ball down the ground for a maximum. A slower short ball was smashed for straight as an arrow six.
In the final over, India needed 16 runs to win. Nawaz was given the responsibility to do the tough job. Pandya got caught trying to hit a big shot. The all-rounder scored 40 runs from 37 deliveries including one four and two sixes.
In the match between India and Pakistan, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first. Pakistan were restricted to 159/8 in 20 overs.
Chasing 160, India were 31/4 in the 7th over, but Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya put on 113 runs for the fifth wicket and this stand was broken in the final over of the game by Mohammad Nawaz as he dismissed Hardik, who scored 40 runs. However, Kohli was able to steer the chase in the final over, helping India script a memorable win.
India will next face Netherlands on Thursday (October 27).
India's squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Hooda, Harshal Patel, Rishabh Pant
Netherlands' squad for T20 World Cup: Scott Edwards (captain and wk), Colin Ackermann, Tom Cooper, Bas de Leede, Brandon Glover, Fred Klaassen, Stephan Myburgh, Vikramjit Singh, Teja Nidimanuru, Max o Dowd, Tim Pringle, Roelof van der Merwe, Timm van der Gugten, Logan van Beek, Paul van Meekeren, Shariz Ahmed.
