ICC T20 World Cup 2022: “I Wasn't Surprised, I Knew This Would Happen In Australia” – Ravi Shastri On Virat Kohli's “Greatest T20 Knock”

Former India National Cricket Team head coach Ravi Shastri, who worked closely with Virat Kohli during his stint as the head coach of the Men In Blue, said that he wasn’t surprised to see the 33-year-old play his “greatest T20 knock” in Australia.

In the 16th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, which was played between arch-rivals India and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, October 23, the modern-day batting great Virat Kohli played an extraordinary knock.

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Chasing 160 against the strong pace attack of Pakistan, India lost the early wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel and were reduced to 31/4.

However, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya stitched up a 113-run stand to shift the momentum towards India. Hardik got out in the ridiculously dramatic final over, but Kohli remained unbeaten and guided India to a victory in the nail-biting match. Kohli smashed remarkable 82 runs off 53 balls, including 6 fours and 4 sixes, to win the Player of the Match award.

Speaking to the Indian Express, former India National Cricket Team head coach Shastri said:

“Perhaps, it’s best to start with a feeling that I didn’t have when I was watching the greatest T20 knock by Virat: I wasn’t surprised. I was waiting for this to happen. I knew this would happen in Australia.

“Just check his record here – the pitches suit him plus he loves playing on these grounds and in front of the fans here. His record against Pakistan has always been good and it was a big situation: cometh the hour, cometh the stage, cometh the man.”

There is also a neat touch of deja-vu – Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri further asserted that he has got a “neat touch of deja-vu”. He mentioned that India had defeated Pakistan in the 1985 World Championship of Cricket in their tournament opener in Melbourne and then went on to win against them in the final as well.

“There is also a neat touch of deja-vu. In 1985, at the World Championship of Cricket tournament, our first game was against Pakistan at the MCG in Melbourne.

“We won. We would beat them again in the final at the Big G. Now, if India Pakistan face off again in the final, wouldn’t it be great? Is there an Audi going around in this tournament?” he added.

In the final of the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket in 1985, Sunil Gavaskar-led India National Cricket Team defeated Javed Miandad-led Pakistan National Cricket Team by 8 wickets to win the title. Opening the innings with Kris Srikkanth, Shastri had scored unbeaten 63 runs in that game.

Also Read: ICC T20 World Cup 2022: I Cursed Dinesh Karthik When I Walked In To Bat Against Pakistan At The MCG – Ravichandran Ashwin