Virat Kohli played the innings of his life against Pakistan in the 20-20 World Cup 2022 scoring 82 off 53 balls to help India chase down the total of 161 and get their World Cup campaign off to a great start. The chase looked impossible at one stage as India were 54/4 after 12 overs. With 28 required off the last 8 balls, Kohli smashed a six off the backfoot straight down the ground on a rising delivery by Haris Rauf.
The 34-year-old further pulled a short delivery over fine leg for another six to bring the equation down to 16 off 6. These two sixes became the talking point of the match as they brought India back into the game. Haris Rauf recently gave his reaction on those two shots saying that they define Kohli’s class.
“The way he [Kohli] played in the World Cup, that is his class, we all know the types of shots he plays. And the way he hit those sixes, I don’t think any other player can hit a shot like that off my bowling,” Rauf told Pakistan news outlet Cricwick.
“If Dinesh Karthik or Hardik Pandya would’ve hit those sixes, I would’ve been hurting but those came off Kohli’s bat and he is a different class altogether,” he further said.
Watch the video here:
I would have been hurt if DK or Hardik had hit me for a six but it was Kohli so it's okay : Raufpic.twitter.com/C7cXUDp6yp
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) November 30, 2022
‘I had no idea he can hit me down the ground’ : Haris Rauf
India required 31 runs to win from 12 balls with Haris Rauf brilliantly starting in the first four balls, giving away only 3 runs. With the game slipping out of hands with every dot ball, Kohli decided to shift gears and smashed Haris for two successive sixes to end the over.
“Look, India required 31 off the last 12 balls. I had given away only three runs off four deliveries. I knew Nawaz was bowling the last over, he is a spinner and I had tried to leave at least four big boundaries for him and leave at least more than 20 runs,” said Rauf.
“And since 28 were required off eight balls, I had bowled three slower balls and he was deceived. I had only bowled one quick ball out of four. So, the idea was to bowl a slower one on that back-of-a-length zone since the boundary was larger on the square side.
“I had no idea that he can hit me down the ground off that length. So when he hit that shot off me, that’s his class. My plan and execution was fine but that shot was all class.”
