On This Day in T20 World Cup History: Virat Kohli led India to win over Pakistan in 2022

The cricket fraternity witnessed one of the most surreal knocks in the shortest format of the game when Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls to orchestrate a memorable win for India against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup 2022 on October 23, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Over 90,000 spectators flocked to the stadium to watch the two neighbowuring countries write a new chapter in their storied rivalry. India won the toss and opted to bowl first and Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were on the mark from the get-go. The former picked up two wickets inside the powerplay as Pakistan managed to score only 32 runs in the first six overs.

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Pakistan's current red-ball captain Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed resurrected the innings with a 76-run partnership off 50 balls. They slammed half-centuries to set a solid platform but the lower-order batters failed to live up to their potential. Pakistan could only manage 159/8 in their 20 overs and fans as well as experts believed that it was a below-par score.

However, Pakistan seamers fired on all cylinders with the new ball and accounted for four wickets inside the first seven overs. India lost the wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Axar Patel for just 31 runs and needed 129 more off 83 balls to register a win in the Super 12 clash.

Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya kick-start India's fightback

With their backs against the wall, India desperately needed a partnership that would weather the storm. Kohli and Hardik Pandya joined forces and helped the Men in Blue start a turnaround for the ages. The Baroda all-rounder was the more expansive of the two batters as he adopted a counter-attacking approach against the Pakistani spinners. In the 12th over, Hardik and Kohli combined to smash three sixes off Mohammad Nawaz as India's acceleration started to rattle the opposition.

Kohli played second-fiddle in the partnership's first half but grew in confidence as his innings progressed and gradually upped the ante. The Delhi batter got to his half-century with a boundary off Shaheen Afridi in the 18th over. He took 43 balls to get to the landmark. Kohli hit two more boundaries in that over as the inaugural champions needed 31 runs to win off 12 balls.

Haris Rauf bowled the crucial penultimate over and conceded only four singles off the first four balls. With 27 needed off the last eight deliveries, Kohli needed to find the fence and he did so emphatically off the next two balls. He hit a slower ball down the ground for a six and it was later hailed by ICC as the 'Shot of the Century'. The last ball of the over also went the distance as he heaved it away over fine leg.

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16 runs were needed off the last over and Babar had finished the overs of his seamers. Nawaz was brought on to bowl and he took the wicket of Hardik off the first ball. The next two deliveries yielded India three runs. The topsy-turvy encounter was beginning to slip away from India's grasp once again as they needed 13 off three balls. However, Nawaz bowled a no-ball and Kohli smashed it to deep square leg for a maximum.

The following delivery was a wide before the next one yielded three byes. With two runs needed off as many balls, Dinesh Karthik was stumped by Mohammad Rizwan. Ravichandran Ashwin came out to the middle as Kohli was watching anxiously from the other end. Nawaz bowled a wide down the leg-side before Ashwin hit the winning run off the last ball. India won the clash by four wickets as fans witnessed a nerve-wracking encounter at the iconic venue.