“Never felt energy like that” - When Virat Kohli tweeted after his 82* off 53 vs Pakistan in 2022 T20 World Cup
On this day, two years ago, Virat Kohli arguably played his finest T20 knock and stunned the onlookers with his performance. Kohli slammed 82* off 53 to help the Indian team secure a remarkable victory over Pakistan at Melbourne in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Batting first, the Men in Green were rocked by a double strike from Arshdeep Singh as he dismissed Babar Azam (0) and Mohammad Rizwan (4). However, they were able to gather momentum with a 76-run stand between Shan Masood (52) and Iftikhar Ahmed (51). In the end, Pakistan managed to post a total of 159 in their allotted 20 overs.
In response, India were in a spot of bother after losing Rohit Sharma (4) and KL Rahul (4). At the half-way mark, India were stuttering at 45/4, and needed 115 runs off the last 10 overs. At this juncture, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40) formed a potent 113- partnership to keep India in the hunt.
With 28 needed off eight deliveries, all eyes were on Kohli as he was striking the ball well. With a majority of the 90,000+ crowd chanting his name, the right-hander delivered with twin sixes against Haris Rauf. As a result, India needed 16 off the final over.
Despite losing Pandya and Dinesh Karthik's wicket in the last over, Kohli's solitary six paved the way for the Indian team to register a thrilling victory. The social media platforms were flooded with fans and the cricket fraternity praising Kohli for his sensational knock.
After a month's time, Virat Kohli took to X to express his happiness at winning the game for the Men in Blue. He tweeted:
"October 23rd 2022 will always be special in my heart. Never felt energy like that in a cricket game before. What a blessed evening that was 💫🙏"
Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer in T20 World Cup history
The 35-year-old is the top-scorer in the T20 World Cup history. He has amassed 1,292 runs in 33 innings at a prolific average of 58.72 and a strike rate of 128.81. He emerged as the top scorer in the 2014 and 2022 editions with 319 runs and 296 runs, respectively.
Kohli bid farewell to the shortest format on a grand note by winning the 2024 T20 World Cup. He slammed 76 off 59 in the final against South Africa, which eventually helped India win by seven runs.
Virat Kohli also ended as the second-highest run-scorer in T20Is with 4,188 runs, just behind his teammate Rohit Sharma (4,231).