DUBAI: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has lavished praise on Virat Kohli for playing a quality knock against Pakistan in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
India might have lost against Pakistan on Sunday, but Kohli's knock of 57 impressed one and all as he took his side to a fighting 151/7 in the allotted twenty overs.
"It was a terrific innings because India had lost their openers in the powerplay itself, so there was a greater sense of responsibility on Kohli's shoulders because he now had to pace the innings he thought to repair the innings and also get India to a total which they could hope to defend. So, the way he paced his innings, the way he chose the shots to break free at times and the six that he hit off Shaheen Afridi. Absolutely amazing talent," said Gavaskar on Star Sports' show 'Follow The Blues'.
Shaheen Shah Afridi rocked the Indian batting lineup as he returned with figures of 3-31 to restrict India below the 160-run mark.
"The way Shaheen Afridi was bowling, he was mixing it up quite well, he was angling the ball across the right hand and he was getting the ball to turn back in after pitching, not so much in the air because you don't get that much help in the UAE. That's why it was important for Kohli to try and step out so that he would be able to then negate the amount of swing that Shaheen Afridi was getting and that's how he was able to negotiate that and score runs off Shaheen Afridi," said Gavaskar.
Mohammad Rizwan (79*) and Babar Azam (68*) didn't give any chance to India bowlers to come on top as the two batsmen dominated the proceedings. Pakistan chased down the target of 152 without losing a wicket as India looked clueless in their opening match.
This was the first time that India lost a T20I by ten wickets. Coincidentally, this was also the first time that Pakistan won a T20I by ten wickets.
