Barbados: After only scoring 75 runs in 7 matches in the T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli came into the final under a lot of pressure. He faced a lot of criticism by the media and fans alike for his poor performances, however the likes of head coach, Rahul Dravid and Indian captain, Rohit Sharma backed the player and showed support to him and it’s safe to say that he didn’t let the support go to vain.
India won the toss and elected to bat first. Kohli came in and gave India a fantastic start by smashing 3 boundaries to Marco Jansen in the first over of the match that eventually went for 15 runs. It looked as if Kohli would continue with this quick-fire approach, however India lost both Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in the very next over which led him to pick a slow approach.
India would lose Suryakumar Yadav as well 2 overs later and in came Axar Patel who was elevated in the batting order. Kohli formed a great partnership with Axar in which the all-rounder was actually the one who dominated. Kohli kept on rotating the strike to Axar who smashed the South African bowlers around the park. He played a valuable knock of 47 which included 4 massive sixes before losing his wicket thanks to a run-out by Quinton de Kock as the 72-run stand was broken in the 14th over.
Kohli went on to complete his first half-century of the tournament in the 17th over but also took 48 balls to do so. After hitting the 50-run mark, Kohli suddenly changed gears and went on to hit many boundaries in the next 2 overs to Rabada and Jansen respectively. He smashed over 20 runs in those 2 overs before Jansen managed to dismiss him in the 19th over on 76.
The batsman was welcomed back to the dugout by applause from all the Indian players as they all knew the importance of this knock. Thanks to this great innings, India went on to finish their 20 overs at a good total of 176/7. Kohli’s knock can very well prove to be the difference in the final.
