Former Pakistan captain Inzamam Ul Haq praised Indian batting great Virat Kohli after his match-winning 82 not out off 53 balls in the team's T20 World Cup 2022 victory against the arch-rivals at MCG on Sunday (October 23).
Inzamam discussed why Kohli fits into the latter group despite being a run-machine in his own right on his YouTube channel, distinguishing between big scorers and impact players. He also made a bold declaration, claiming that India cannot reclaim the T20 World Cup until Kohli is at his peak.
Inzamam said when Virat Kohli is performing, India look a dangerous side, which otherwise pales in comparison to themselves. The former Pakistan chief selector said Kohli is a "zabardast (magnificent)" player and someone India need in strong form heading deeper into the tournament.
"The Indian team is dangerous only on one condition: when Virat plays brilliantly. I am telling this clearly," Inzamam said on his YouTube channel 'The Match Winner'. "There are many factors and people term other batsmen as dangerous but for me, Virat is zabardast (magnificient)."
"If India has to win the World Cup, Virat’s performance like this can win them the World Cup. If they think that they can win the World Cup without Virat, it’s not possible," he added.
Kohli overcame a sluggish start to his innings after India lost openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma early in the 160-run chase. The hitter was 12* off 21 at one point, later admitting he was "messing" things up, but then rebounded back to knock 70 runs off his final 32 balls in the middle in another memorable late flourish from his bat.
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"Some players cannot win matches despite scoring runs but there are some players who win such matches for their teams single handedly and in pressure. Virat [Kohli] is such a player and has his own class," said Inzamam.
"Indian performance is related to only one person. That’s Virat Kohli. India was struggling for a long time due to Virat’s poor form. Now he has come back and it gives India an edge in upcoming matches in the World cup."
"The good thing for India is that Virat has regained his form. And it happened in such a match against Pakistan. It could have happened in any World Cup match. But it happened in the first match against Pakistan only," he added.
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Pakistan had India in big trouble at 31 for 4 inside the powerplay phase but the team recovered via a measured partnership between Kohli and Hardik Pandya as they intelligently took the chase deep before exploding. While Kohli contributed 69* off 41 during the stand, Hardik made a relatively sedate but critical 40 off 37 deliveries.
"Both Virat and Pandya were playing well in the partnership. The main thing was that Kohli maintained the flow after the fall of Pandya’s wicket. He did not let pressure overtake his mind."
"He had the pressure that he is the well set batsman but the way he played the last two overs was his class. The two sixes he hit off Haris Rauf, that was some class," Inzamam said.
READ| 'I am messing this up': Virat Kohli on his 'best' innings vs Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2022
