India and Pakistan face each other in the Asia Cup ODI series at Pallagile on Saturday. Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed scored centuries yesterday. After the win, Babar Azam said, “I hope to play an innings like this against India.” In this case, former Indian player Mohammad Kaif has said that Pakistan bowlers will be afraid of Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli smashed 6 fours and 4 sixes to power Pakistan to 82 not out in 53 balls in a thrilling T20 World Cup match played in front of 90,000 fans in Melbourne on October 23. Mohammad Kaif is now reminding Pakistan players of that innings that never left the hearts of the fans.
On that day, Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel were empty in a row and the Indian team faced a target of 159 runs and lost 31/4 in 6.1 overs. But, chase king Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40) blasted 113 runs in the next 13 overs to take the score to 144 runs in the 20th over. Hardik Pandya was run out in the first ball of the over bowled by Nawaz with 16 runs to win in the last over. Dinesh Karthik scored 1 run and Kohli scored 2 runs in the next ball.
But Nawaz hit the next ball as a full-toss with a no-ball to deep square leg for a six. Deep square leg fielder MB The Indian fans hand goes to their chest to touch the ball but the ball is a six. The only tension was Babar Azam arguing with the umpire that it didn’t come above the waist. Needing 6 runs off 3 balls, Nawaz bowled the ball wide, thinking to push away to avoid scoring.
The next ball was a free hit and the ball was dropped by the keeper. Karthik and Kohli took 3 runs before the wicket keeper. Next ball Dinesh Karthik was stumped and Ashwin got off. A tense moment when one ball scores a tie and 2 runs wins. It was then that Ashwin took an incredibly smart decision. Nawaz thought that Ashwin was going to move towards leg and bowled the ball towards leg, but Ashwin went out for a run wide and the score was leveled. Then in the last tension ball, Ashwin stepped aside this time and tossed it coolly over mid-off, India scored a huge victory. Goalie 82 not out, that’s a huge innings!
While many former players of Pakistan are criticizing India’s weak middle order and relying only on Rohit and Kohli, Mohammad Kaif said on Star Sports TV, “Kohli’s performance in the T20 World Cup in Australia against Pakistan was fantastic. Virat Kohli is really amazing when it comes to playing against Pakistan.
He is a master of chasing, taking full responsibility upon himself. Surely this innings of Kohli will still come and go in the minds of Pakistani players. Pakistan bowlers in particular will be a little scared. They fear Kohli. They must have realized how big his wicket was.
They know that if they drop the wicket, the game becomes easier. But Kohli’s form will surely increase the pressure on Pakistan’s bowlers. Kohli has a good understanding of how Pakistan’s bowlers will bowl from the last T20 World Cup. Be it Naseem Shah or Shahin Afridi or Rauf, Kohli knows how to bowl. Their danger player against Pakistan is Virat Kohli,” says Mohammad Kaif.
