T20
World Cup: Virat Kohli produces another masterclass on special night in
Melbourne
It just had to be him.
Cricket's biggest star, on its biggest stage,
with a performance which may well have positioned itself in the prime slot of a
career highlights reel that was already the stuff of greatness.
India against Pakistan is a cricket match like
no other. This astounding game in front of 90,293 at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground was like no other India-Pakistan match and an occasion few, if any,
sporting events can match.
Under the lights, at a sporting coliseum,
Virat Kohli delivered to seal an extraordinary four-wicket win for India in the
T20 World Cup.
Hours before the game fans dressed in blue or
green descended on the MCG, many with children less than a year old carried on
shoulders.
They may not know what these matches mean to
these two nations but soon they will.
When the anthems were sung the lucky ones
inside - tickets for this match sold out in less than five minutes - created an
atmosphere so spinetingling, so captivating that India captain Rohit Sharma - a
veteran of 421 international matches - was unable to hold back the tears.
Then, as the atmosphere reached its crescendo
for the first delivery, every ball was cheered - wicket, six or leave.
This ground has seen a lot in 145 years since
the very first Test but nothing quite like this.
To see so many people, with so many issues
outside this place - these two cricketing nations have spent the last week
exchanging barbs, don't forget - so passionate about one
thing stirred unexpected emotions.
It should be no surprise Kohli, a man who
doesn't just attract the on-field limelight but hunts it, secures it and bathes
beneath its glow, was the one to cope best.
Things started well for India, from the moment
23-year-old left-armer Arshdeep Singh trapped Babar Azam, Pakistan's captain
and talisman, lbw with his first ball.
The resulting roar from the stands was
ear-splitting. Louder was to come.
After the tide turned, the green flags now
waving more proudly, and with India's batting line-up of titans faltering,
Kohli emerged onto his stage.
As the glaring lights flashed down, he took to
the stage like a prize-fighter - bounding and skipping his way to the middle
with such electricity that politicians could do worse than plug the 33-year-old
into the national grid.
He started slowly, taking the weight of the
game onto his shoulders as 11 runs came from his first 20 balls.
Those methods have been questioned in the
recent past. Before Kohli ended a three-year run without an international
century in September, some suggested he was not worth his place in this India
Twenty20 side.
The modern way is to attack these situations,
not let the required rate spiral out of control, but Kohli is the master of the
chase.
He was always going to do it his way - accumulate
and, when he deems the moment right, pounce.
As momentum swung like the '60s, Kohli made
sure, whenever India's chances looked to be slipping beyond reach, they were
pulled back within range.
"I've got this," he told 90,000 fans
with every glare.
As the ball was flicked and cracked off his bat, the willow started to look like a mere extension of his arm, such was the elegance with which it flowed.
When things did become critical Kohli found
his best.
With 28 runs needed from eight balls, the
right-hander lifted an outrageous back-foot drive over Haris Rauf's head for
six, a shot that, were mortals to attempt it, would leave most in an
embarrassed heap.
The resulting din could well have been heard
in Bangalore.
The ropes were cleared twice more before the
end, Pakistan wilting as Kohli's powers seemed to grow.
When the winning moment came he dropped to the
ground and punched the turf, the same emotions that had overcome his captain
earlier near to the surface.
"Hats off to Virat," Rohit said.
"It was the best innings he has played for India.
"From the situation we were in and to
come out with a victory it has to be one of India's best knocks."
The man himself agreed it was his personal
best, suggesting it topped his famous downing of Australia in Mohali at the
2016 T20 World Cup.
That day, curiously, he finished 82 not out
from 51 balls. Today, he made 82 unbeaten from 53.
"I have no words, no idea how that
happened," he said. "I just kept believing and staying there until
the end. I am honestly just lost for words.
"It seemed impossible."
For superstars like Kohli, impossible is
nothing.
