T20 World Cup 2022: Has to be the best innings he has played for India – Rohit Sharma on Virat Kohli’s match-winning knock

Virat Kohli has played some mind-blowing knocks for the national team in all three formats of the game and he added another feather to his cap after scoring an unbeaten knock of 82 off just 53 balls to help India beat Pakistan by four wickets in the T20 World Cup 2022 at the MCG on Sunday.

The Indian captain Rohit Sharma was full of praise for Kohli and claimed that this knock has to be the best innings he has played for the national team.

India found themselves in all sorts of trouble at 31-4 while chasing 160 against a fired-up Pakistan bowling line-up. However, Kohli and Pandya were able to get their team out of the troubled waters as they added a fine alliance of 113 runs off 78 balls.

Kohli took his time in the early stage before changing gears to get his team over the line. The talisman scored 11 runs in the first 20 balls he faced while he scored 71 runs in the next 33 balls he faced.

Kohli used all his experience to take the game deep and then catapulted his attack like an predator at the fag end of the innings. The 32-year-old scored six fours and four sixes as he batted at the top of his game.

In fact, it seemed like almost an impossible position for India to win the game at one stage but Kohli was able to turn the tables with his blistering batting. India needed 28 runs off the last eight balls when Kohli smashed Haris Rauf for two consecutive sixes to get India back into the contest.

Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “I was in the dressing room. I don’t have any words left. You got to expect something like this in a game like this. We wanted to stay in the game for as long as possible. That crucial partnership was the game-changing moment for us. The pitch had something in it. There was nice carry. Some swing and seam. Good to see from the bowling perspective. They had a good partnership (Iftikhar and Masood) after that. They batted well towards the end as well. But we knew we had to bat out of our skin to chase this. Those two guys (Kohli and Pandya) are experienced. Staying calm and taking the game deep was very critical. Good for our confidence. Always crucial to get off the mark like this. We were in no position to win this. The way we won that’s more pleasing for us. Hats off to Virat for the way he batted, has to be the best innings he has played for India. I would like to thank everyone, it’s wonderful to see. Their support for us is very, very crucial wherever we go.”

India will take on the Netherlands on Thursday at the SCG.