I had a feeling Virat Kohli will pull off something out of the hat with 8 balls to go vs Pakistan: Ricky Ponting
Virat Kohli has silenced his critics by producing a brilliant show in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Six months ago, questions were being raised over Kohli’s form but after taking a month’s break ahead of Asia Cup 2022, there has been no looking back for the champion cricketer. Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting heaped praise on Kohli’s form and said he knew Kohli would pull off something special against Pakistan with India needing 28 off the last 8 balls.
In the penultimate over bowled by Haris Rauf, Kohli smashed the pacer for two successive sixes to bring down the equation to 16 off 6 balls.
Ponting said he was watching the match and had a feeling that Kohli would pull off something special.
“Against Pakistan, with 8 balls, to go, I still had a feeling he will pull something out of the hat. And he did. A little moment like that can have a big impact on the team right throughout the tournament. India haven’t been at their best yet, Virat has been very very good in a couple of games. He is now the leading run-scorer in the history of T20 World Cup and I think if India are to actually progress and go on to win, they need Virat there to be playing really well,” Kohli said.
The match against Pakistan was just the kind of start Kohli needed as he has gone on to smash two more half-centuries to his name.
Ponting went on to add that he always said India needed to back a player of Kohli’s calibre ahead of the tournament despite the pool of young talented cricketers doing well for the national team.
“When you come into big events like this, you need your experienced star players to stand at the big moments and make you win. That’s what I said about Virat at the start. We saw that first game against Pakistan. I doubt if there is another player in that side that could have got them down the line at the end. One issue which India had with all the cricket they have been playing, rotating players, giving highly talented young Indian players to play in the national team, more often than not they have taken their chances. With Virat not in the side and with all these young players making runs, it made it harder for India to sticking with him and picking him,” he added.
Kohli helped India register its third win of the tournament as he scored 64 runs off 44 balls against Bangladesh on November 2. During his knock, Kohli also went past former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene to become the leading run-scorer in T20 World Cup history.
