T20 World Cup 2022: "He is a player par excellence" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli having scored runs almost every time in big games
Aakash Chopra has lauded Virat Kohli for delivering the goods almost every time on the big stage.
Kohli scored 50 runs off 40 deliveries in India's T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final against England at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, November 10. His knock helped the Men in Blue set a 169-run target for Jos Buttler's team. However, it proved to be insufficient as England went on to win the match by 10 wickets with four overs to spare.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra analyzed how some of India's top players have performed in knockout games since their title-winning run in the 2013 Champions Trophy. Regarding Kohli, he said:
"I will talk about Virat Kohli first because he has played almost everything, from the 2014 semi-final to the 2022 knockout game, he has played every single knockout game India have played in ICC events. Virat Kohli's stature is huge because he scores runs in all big games. He is a player par excellence of this generation."
The former Indian opener pointed out that India's batting mainstay stood out in the knockout matches of both the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cups. He elaborated:
"He has performed in almost every single game. He scored 72 off 44 balls in the 2014 semi-final, 77 off 58 balls in the final. His bat did not fire in the 2015 semi-final but in the 2016 T20 semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium - 89 not out off 47 balls."
Chopra acknowledged that Kohli failed to fire on odd occasions in crunch games. He observed:
"He was dismissed early in the 2017 Champions Trophy final and the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final. So he has not scored runs in every game - scored runs in both knockout games in 2014 and the knockout game in 2016, he didn't score runs in 2015 and 2019."
Kohli managed just one run off 13 deliveries and was caught behind while trying to pull Mitchell Johnson at the 2015 ODI World Cup semi-final. He scored a solitary run in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final as well before he was trapped leg-before-wicket by Trent Boult.
"Virat Kohli's performances show that his stature grows in big games" - Aakash Chopra
While observing that it is virtually impossible to score runs in every big game, the reputed commentator highlighted that the modern batting great has not let his team down on most occasions. He stated:
"In the World Test Championship final, he scored 44 in the first innings there as well, and here (2022 semi-final) also he scored a fifty. It is guaranteed you will not score runs in every game but Virat Kohli's performances show that his stature grows in big games."
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Chopra picked Hardik Pandya as another current player who has risen to the occasion more often than not in crunch games. He cited the all-rounder's performances in the 2017 Champions Trophy final and his 63-run knock in the semi-finals of the ongoing T20 World Cup to substantiate his point.