Kohli's 82* vs Pak: Scripting a New Golden Episode in the India-Pakistan Cricket Rivalry

Australia's iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground has been a witness to countless cricketing highlights, yet the match between India and Pakistan on October 23, 2022, holds a special spot in the hearts of cricket fans worldwide. How often have we seen a batting team winning a match after being 4-31 in 6 overs while chasing a total of 160 runs? This is where the territory of King Kohli begins as he has been a constant headache for the Pakistan team in the big games against India. With an amazing 82 runs inning against the Men in Green, Virat Kohli himself wrote an amazing story of his comeback alongside adding a beautiful chapter to this intense rivalry. Now, let's take a stroll down memory lane and revisit that heart-throbbing innings.

Build-Up before the India vs Pakistan Match

With a rich history of iconic moments in the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry, including India's historic 2007 T20 World Cup Finals win, Shahid Afridi's memorable sixes against R Ashwin, and Sachin Tendulkar's masterful 98-run innings in the World Cup, the clashes between these two teams go beyond the conventional competition between bat and ball. Instead, each match becomes a high-pressure spectacle, keeping every cricket fan on the edge of their seat throughout the game.

The 2022 T20 World Cup game was no different and every fan of cricket was looking forward to witnessing the amazing encounter at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. However, the Indian team has faced a string of disappointments in the past few months as they failed to make it to the Asia Cup Finals and were handed defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Match Date	Winning Team	Man of the Match
14th September 2007	Match Tied (India won in the bowl out)	Mohammad Asif
24th September 2007	India won by 5 runs	Irfan Pathan
20th September 2012	India won by 8 wickets	Virat Kohli
21st March 2014	India won by 7 wickets	Amit Mishra
19th March 2016	India won by 6 wickets	Virat Kohli
24th October 2021	Pakistan won by 10 wickets	Shaheen Shah Afridi

(India vs Pakistan Head-to-Head Results in T20 World Cup

**Above Results are off before the 2022 T20 World Cup game)

In the 2021 T20 World Cup, India lost against Pakistan for the first time and a defeat by 10 wickets shook the entire cricketing world. The credit for the win went to Shaheen Shah Afridi who decimated the Indian top order and finished the match with the figures of 3/31 in his 4 overs. The batting department was handled by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan who got fifty-plus scores in the match. With this, the Pakistan team was high on confidence and their fans were hoping for another one-sided match to start their campaign on a high note.

23rd October 2022: The Matchday

The morning of India vs Pakistan match is always a nervy one for the players as well as the fans and 23rd October 2022 was no different. The news channels and social media were constantly buzzing with the latest updates on the match and soon it was the toss time where Rohit Sharma elected to field first at the MCG. With the national anthems done and everyone being excited at the stadium, the Indian bowlers started doing what they are known for. The perfect length and the seam position didn't allow the Pakistan openers to settle and Arshdeep Singh dismissed Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the first 4 overs.

But a blazing partnership between Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood alongside some late hits from Shaheen Shah Afridi ensured that the Pakistan team reached a total of 159 runs at a loss of 8 wickets. Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya finished with 3 wickets each and ensured that the Pakistan team didn’t get to a big total.

Name of the Batsman	Runs Scored	Balls Faced	Strike Rate
Shan Masood	52	42	123.80
Iftikhar Ahmed	51	34	150.00
Shaheen Shah Afridi	16	8	200.00
Name of the Bowler	Overs Bowled	Runs Conceded	Wickets Taken
Hardik Pandya	4	30	3
Arshdeep Singh	4	32	3

(Scorecard of 1st Innings)

Turning attention to the Indian batting, their lineup appeared solid, looking optimistic for a successful chase. However, the task of scoring quickly against Pakistan's strong bowling unit presented a real challenge for the Indian batsmen. Before the innings commenced, fans were buzzing with excitement, especially eager to witness the anticipated duel between Shaheen Shah Afridi and the experienced campaigner, Rohit Sharma. However, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf came out of the syllabus for the Indian batters and soon the scorecard read 31-4 in 6 overs with Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli at the crease.

At that moment, the entire crowd, mostly Indian fans, went quiet. The win predictor gave only a 15% chance for India to win, making the atmosphere tense. However, the commentators remained optimistic, putting their faith in one man – Virat Kohli. They reassured everyone by saying “Don't write India is off because Virat Kohli is still there". Virat Kohli along with Hardik Pandya started stabilising the innings and took India to a situation where 48 runs were required of the last 3 overs.

What Happened when India needed 48 off 18 balls…

The 18th over, bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi looked to be a crucial phase in the match and Virat Kohli capitalized on it by scoring 3 boundaries and taking 17 runs of that over. With the situation coming down to 31 of 12 and Haris Rauf marking his runup, the Indian fans knew things were getting tense now. The first 4 balls of the over produced just 3 runs and it looked like another loss against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup is just around the corner.

Virat Kohli Hit a Six on Haris Rauf's Ball in T20 World Cup Match Against Pakistan

But guess what, the 5th delivery of the 19th over gave us one of the best shots to remember in the history of the Indian Cricket. Virat Kohli smashed a straight six on a length ball and it went over the head of Haris Rauf who just watched it sail over the fence. Being termed as “The Greatest Shot Ever”, the fans demanded another six on the next ball and he brought back the team into the match.

The last over saw the Indian team needing 16 runs and the Pakistan skipper bought Mohammad Nawaz back into the attack and he straightaway made his impact felt by dismissing Hardik Pandya on the first ball. The next 2 balls saw just 3 runs and then Nawaz bowled a No-Ball and it gave India a total of 11 runs as the free hit went for 3 byes run along with a wide. However, the match wasn't done here as the 5th ball of the match saw Dinesh Karthik being stumped out and it left India with 2 runs of just 1 ball. Then comes out the genius R Ashwin who gets a run by just shifting towards his right to get a wide and the last ball saw him taking a single over the mid on to give India a scintillating win.

Name of the Batsman	Runs Scored	Balls Faced	Strike Rate
Virat Kohli	82*	53	154.71
Hardik Pandya	40	37	108.10
Suryakumar Yadav	15	10	150.00
Name of the Bowler	Overs Bowled	Runs Conceded	Wickets Taken
Haris Rauf	4	36	2
Mohammad Nawaz	4	42	2

(Scorecard of 2nd Innings)

With Diwali on the next day, Virat Kohli gifted the entire nation an amazing win against their arch-rivals Pakistan and his 82* knock will always remain as an iconic inning which was played under immense pressure. Despite 2 years of rough patch, harsh criticism, social media trolling and politics in his captaincy saga, Virat Kohli pulled out this run chase and ended up being the saviour of the Indian team for the nth time