Virat Kohli’s 183 against Pakistan in Asia Cup was one of his best, states Gautam Gambhir

Virat Kohli’s 183 against Pakistan in Asia Cup was one of his best, states Gautam Gambhir

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Gautam Gambhir credited Kohli's 183 against Pakistan as his best

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Gautam Gambhir, heaping praise on Virat Kohli, has admitted that the right-hander’s 183 against arch-rivals Pakistan in the 2012 edition of the Asia Cup was one of his greatest innings. His reasoning behind it was that Kohli had to do it all against a tough and experienced Pakistani bowling attack.

On the back of a scathing five-wicket loss against the hosts Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, India were facing the heat against arch-rivals Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan had won two consecutive games and were on a roll before the Indian encounter. After electing to bat first, on the back of their openers outstanding 217 runs, Pakistan got themselves off to a total of 329 for the fall of six wickets. 

The already under-pressure India had endured a bad first, with Gautam Gambhir walking back without troubling the scorers for a two-ball duck. However, the partnership between India’s yesteryear star Sachin Tendulkar and upcoming star Virat Kohli propelled them to 133 at the midway stage. Once Tendulkar was undone by Saeed Ajmal, the responsibility was on the shoulders of the 23-year-old Kohli. Prior to that in the tournament, Kohli scored 174 in two innings. 

Not only did he save India from an embarrassing loss against their rivals but also put on a great show with the bat, scoring 183 from 148 balls, tackling the tough and experienced Pakistani pace attack. Heaping praise on the knock, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir hailed Kohli’s 183 against Pakistan as one of his best knocks across the three formats. 

“Virat Kohli has played many unbelievable innings across the three formats, but this (183) is one of his greatest innings from all points of view,” Gambhir on “Best of Asia Cup watch along” show on Star Sports.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s bowling attack had the host of names in the form of Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Wahab Riaz who in their own right could win any game in 2012. However, it was Kohli and India who had the last laugh as India walked off as the winners in the fixture. 

“First of all we were chasing 330, then India was 0/1, and then scoring 183 out of the 330 runs, that too against Pakistan, and that time, he was not that experienced too. According to me, I think probably this (183) is one of Virat Kohli’s greatest innings, honestly” he added.

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