On October 23, Virat Kohli unleashed havoc on the Babar Azam-led Pakistan cricket team to steer team India to a memorable four-wicket win in India’s opening game of the T20 World Cup 2022. Virat Kohli played one of the best knocks of his T20 career as he remained unbeaten on 82 off 53 deliveries, smashing six fours and four sixes to help India chase down a 160-run target in the iconic clash in Melbourne. In fact, Kohli himself described the knock as his best T20I innings. Notably, the batter had endured a rough patch with the bat for the majority of the year and even had to take a break from the game for a month.
En route to the knock, Virat Kohli smashed back-to-back sixes off Haris Rauf that left the fans and former cricketers in awe of him. India required 31 runs to win from the 12 deliveries in the game when Haris Rauf started brilliantly in the first four balls, giving away only 3 runs. However, this is when Kohli decided to take on the pacer as he smashed Haris for two stunning sixes.
Kohli’s first six was a magical moment, and now an old video of Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja has been going viral on the internet, where he can be seen claiming that no one can smash Haris for a straight six, who often touches the 150kmph mark. He said:
“Haris Rauf se mai jab bhi baat krta hoon ki aap 150 ki speed se ball krte hai, apko variation ki jarurat nahi hai. Apke paas sheer pace hai. Uske upar he aap rakh de koi maai ka laal seedhi hit nahi laga skta apko”
(Which roughly translates to: Whenever I talk to Haris Rauf, I say to him that you ball at a speed of 150 kmph, you don’t need a variation. You have sheer pacer and if you gets length right then no one can hit you for a straight six.)
Watch the video:
This video 😂😂😂@GaurangBhardwa1 pic.twitter.com/CUD2Y0fis6
— x kumar (@Hemant90kid) November 28, 2022
Meanwhile, a few days ago Haris Rauf opened up about the two sixes. Even the bowler was left stunned with the shot, he expressed: “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,”
“If Dinesh Karthik aur 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,”
