23rd October 2022: It was the group stage match between India and arch rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia during the 2022 T20 World Cup. It was an atmosphere with more than 90,000 fans in the stadium to witness this game. India won the game on the back of a masterclass from Virat Kohli and one of the best moments of the game happened in the fourth ball of the 19th over. India needed 28 runs of 8 balls and Haris Rauf steaming in bowling quick. Virat Kohli was on strike and it was back of a length ball at high pace and Virat Kohli smashed it straight down the ground for 90 meter six off the backfoot. It was an unbelievable shot at that stage of the game. ICC later named it as the ‘’shot of the century’’ and the commentators and spectators were in shock as it was certainly not a bad ball and to hit that delivery straight down the ground off the backfoot required immense skill. Watch the video here.
That shot brought down the equation to 22 to 7 and in the last ball of the over, Virat Kohli flicked it down to fine leg for another six as the equation came down to 16 of the final over. Nawaz was bowling the final over and dismissed Hardik Pandya in the first ball, but Virat Kohli smashed a six off a no ball and then India ran three of the free hit. With 2 runs needed of 2 balls, Dinesh Karthik was run-out and Nawaz then bowled a wide and with one needed of the last ball, Ravi Ashwin kept his calm and played it over to the top to seal the win for India.
India were bowling first and restricted Pakistan to 159/8. They were in all sorts of trouble early on but half centuries from Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed helped them post a competitive target on the board. In reply, India were in all sorts of trouble as they were reduced to 31/4 in the seventh over and well behind in the game. Virat Kohli consolidated the innings along with Hardik Pandya and then changed gears seamlessly as he led India to one of the most memorable wins. Virat Kohli ended up with an unbeaten 82 of just 53 balls and was also the player of the match. The game went down the wire and it was a classic thriller.
