'I am messing this up': Virat Kohli on his 'best' innings vs Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2022
Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli played an unbeaten 82-run knock to help India prevail over Pakistan by four wickets in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Virat Kohli played one of the 'best innings' in his own words against Pakistan on October 23, Sunday, in the first match of T20 World Cup 2022 for both sides. With India reduced to 31/4 while chasing 160, Kohli rose to the occasion and played a 'Player of the Match' worthy inning.
However, that knock didn't come easy, as the former Indian skipper was at 12 runs off the first 21 balls, and after the end of the match, Kohli opened up about his thinking at that stage of the match, revealing that he thought he was 'messing up' the match.
However, with all of his experience behind him, the 33-year-old slowly but steadily accelerated and ended up playing a crucial role in India's victory.
"When I was 12 off 21, I was like 'I am really messing this game up. I am not putting ball in the gaps'. But when you have experience and understand the value of batting deep, that's always been my role playing for India. I know that I can do a lot of the power-hitting towards the end of the innings," said Kohli while speaking to Star Sports after India's four-wicket win.
With India reeling at 31-4, Kohli struck up an all-important partnership with Hardik Pandya as the pair of them helped the Men in Blue register a comeback in the match. The Delhi-born talismanic batsman was all praises for Pandya.
"Honestly, I was feeling a lot of pressure at that stage. But then when he came in and he hit a few boundaries, I kind of opened up. That partnership, we didn't even realise when we got to our 100. We kept talking, we kept running hard and kept watching their body language. We knew it would turn at some stage, it turned quite late to be honest. We would have liked to do it earlier," he added.
Team India took a major step towards qualification to the semifinal of T20 World Cup 2022, and they will be looking to further cement their position atop the Group B standings, when Rohit Sharma and Co take on Netherlands at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on October 27.