All Indian players fell to the ground when R Ashwin scored the victorious runs against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Virat Kohli was overcome with emotion as he continued to amass 82 runs and remained unbeaten. This innings will go down as one of the best in white-ball cricket. Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, was all praise for Kohli following the game and described it as the cricketer’s best performance while representing India.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, Sharma praised the Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli partnership but reserved particular appreciation for Kohli, describing his 53-ball 82 as his best knock while representing India.
While speaking at the post match presentation, the Indian skipper said, “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, it has to be the best innings he has played for India. I would like to thank everyone, it’s wonderful to see you. Their support for us is very, very crucial wherever we go.”
It became challenging for the Men in Blue toward the end of India’s chase as they required 28 runs off the final 8 balls. When Kohli hit two consecutive sixes off Haris Rauf to reduce the equation to 16 off 6 balls, the squad was eased of some of the pressure.
After watching the intense game, Sharma claimed he was speechless and realized his team would need to play to the very end to win.
He added, “I was in the dressing room. I don’t have any words left. You have 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 a game-changing moment for us. The pitch had something in it. There was a 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 toward the end as well. But we knew we had to bat out of our skin to chase this.”
