Fans on social media are still having a hang-over of Virat Kohli’s blistering knock against arch-rivals Pakistan in their tournament opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Down to 31 for 4 in the seventh over in their chase of 160, Kohli’s sensational knock helped the Indian cricket team get their campaign off to a flying start in Australia.
Team India didn’t get off to a perfect start against Pakistan in the chase as the top-order collapsed badly with openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma departing early inside the first four overs and Suryakumar being dismissed by Haris Rauf in the final over of the powerplay. Axar Patel also failed badly as he suffered a similar fate in four deliveries.
All the responsibility fell on Virat Kohli’s shoulders, who himself was struggling at 12 off 21. However, he joined hands with Hardik Pandya and together they brought back the much-needed momentum by putting a 100-run stand. Hardik eventually departed in what was a drama-filled final over before India pulled it through.
Moments after the match, former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly took to his social media and tweeted about India’s win however he was mercilessly trolled for his post which had no mentions of Virat Kohli, who single-handedly saved India’s day and helped the side avenge their 2021 T20 World Cup defeat against Pakistan with a four-wicket win.
After the win, Ganguly had taken to Twitter to congratulate the Indian cricket team. Ganguly wrote: “Congratulations to the team for a fantastic win and a great start to the world cup @bcci.”
However, since the tweet had no mention of Virat, it didn’t go down well with the fans, who were already riding high on emotions.
Check out the reactions of fans to this:
Man got sacked and virat became a chase master again!
Thanks for getting sacked dada https://t.co/mxbeUU3F2g— G🙇♂️ (@rgeek1) October 23, 2022
Karma is back 🤣 https://t.co/G5PudHNXVj
— RIGDOR LAMA (@LamaRigdor) October 23, 2022
No appreciation tweet for Kohli. This guy👎 https://t.co/9ZegMsWHiI
— Ritu🌻 (@EntropyPositive) October 23, 2022
pic.twitter.com/9DEdQrgUC7 https://t.co/YasNeCbIn0
— best girl (@awkdipti) October 23, 2022
You forgot to tag @imVkohli and @JayShah https://t.co/yI5lKGMPWE
— Angshuman (@RunKalita) October 24, 2022
Virat https://t.co/rWRLEVo7Qc pic.twitter.com/4Hdeh1ehq3
— Shubh (@Vickster469) October 24, 2022
“It’s a surreal atmosphere, I have no words, no idea how that happened. I am really lost for words. Hardik believed we can do it, if we stayed till the end. When Shaheen bowled from the pavilion end, that’s when we decided to take him down. Haris is their prime bowler, and I hit those two sixes. The calculation was simple. Nawaz had one over to bowl, so if I could take Haris down, they would panic. From 28 in 8, it came down to 16 to 6. I tried to stick to my instincts,” Kohli had said after the match.
