IND vs PAK 2022: "We will bat deep by building a partnership, anything can happen" - Virat Kohli recalls Hardik Pandya's encouraging words during their match-winning partnership
Virat Kohli opened up about the conversation he shared with Hardik Pandya during their match-winning 113-run partnership against Pakistan in India's opening T20 World Cup 2022 fixture on Sunday, October 23.
The duo absorbed pressure from the potent opposition bowling unit and took the game to the end where India prevailed by four wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
India were on the ropes at 31-4 in the seventh over while chasing a 160-run target. Pressure piled up against the ever-increasing required run rate, requiring the pair to seek boundaries at one stage of the run chase.
Kohli took over the proceedings in the final leg of the contest with Pandya arguably not timing the ball as well as he usually does.
A very special conversation to relive the magical night at the MCG.
Coming up soon on bcci.tv - @hardikpandya7 in conversation with @imVkohli 🙌
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Recalling that Pandya played a crucial hand in calming him down during a critical point of the run chase, Kohli said in a video released by the BCCI:
Hardik was very fearless in that partnership, when he came onto bat, he immediately told me, ''Let's talk, let's communicate and we will bat deep by building a partnership, anything can happen'. He really kept me focused at that point, because I was looking to hit a few big shots, which could have been risky because we had already lost four wickets by that time."
The pair had a rather sedate start at the crease on the back of a top-order collapse. They focused on the strike rotation and began to look for boundaries once set. A 20-run over off Mohammad Nawaz midway through the innings brought in some crucial momentum, keeping India still in the game.
Noting that they had an eye out for Nawaz's final over, Kohli said:
"We just kept batting, I did not knew when we got to the 100-run mrrk in the partnership, it just came on the board all of a sudden, we were focused on when to go for the shots, getting the boundaries at the right time. In the end, we spoke about the fact that Nawaz has one over left and Hardik was backing himself to hit three-four sixes in his over for sure."
Babar Azam saved Mohammad Nawaz until the end, launching a barrage of seam bowling in search of a wicket and killing the game off well before the final over. The ploy, which was also employed by the Pakistan skipper at the 2022 Asia Cup, failed once again as India managed to score the required 16 runs off the final over bowled by the left-arm spinner, much to their delight.
"I told Hardik that if we can go after Rauf, then the game will be completely set for us" - Virat Kohli
With Shaheen Afridi arguably not operating at his optimum best, speedster Haris Rauf was arguably the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan.
The right-arm pacer, who is no stranger to the MCG due to his stint with the Melbourne Stars in the BBL, made a huge impact in the first spell with the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.
He hit the deck hard and troubled the Indian batters consistently, but the takeaway from his spell would go onto be the final two deliveries.
This video on TikTok of Virat Kohli’s six back over Haris Rauf is incredible.
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Bowling the penultimate over, Rauf did a stellar job of restricting India to three runs off the the first four deliveries. However, Kohli turned things around with two consecutive sixes, bringing the equaltion down to 16 required off the final over.
Stating that his onslaught on Rauf would inflict panic in the Pakistan setup, Kohli said:
"We then realized that they are saving Nawaz for the end and they want to kill the game first, that is when I told Hardik that if we can go after Rauf, then the game will be completely set for us, they will panic and that is exactly what happened."
Rauf eventually finished with figures of 2-36 off his final overs, with those two maximums proving to be Pakistan's downfall as it allowed India to stake a claim in the contest.
India are next scheduled to take on the Netherlands on Thursday, October 27, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Was Virat Kohli's unbeaten 82, his greatest ever international innings? Let us know what you think.
Also Read: IND vs PAK 2022: [Watch] Virat Kohli wells up with emotion after a mentally draining innings against arch-rivals at the biggest stage