It was on March 18, 2012, The Indian Cricket team was taking on their arch-rivals Pakistan in the 2012 Aisa Cup. It was a match between Asia’s cricketing giants and fierce rivals India and Pakistan, a match with intensity like none other. Ever did anyone knew that one hero would be playing in what was his last match in the glorified white-ball career? Pulling down curtains and don the Indian national jersey for one last time While a young lad with great potential would rise on occasion and eventually became a cricketing great himself in what was a historic ODI for the Indian cricket team.
The high octane match kicked off to a flying start for the side in Green. Pakistan openers built a solid partnership of 224 runs with Pakistan ending with a mammoth 329 runs on the scoreboard at the end of their 50 overs.
To top it all off, Pakistan had bowlers like Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi at their disposal. Their bowling displayed their lethal bowling strength and dismissed Indian opener Gautam Gambhir in just the 2nd ball of India’s innings.
A young bloke named Virat Kohli walks onto the 22 yards quite early in the game. Virat had eyes filled with ambition and hope. And why wouldn’t he? He had just joined the Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar on the pitch in what would be the legend’s last ODI for the Men in Blue.
The Virat Show was on and in full display, as he did not spare any bowler coming his way that night. Virat wreaked havoc and carnage against Pakistan’s bowling troop smashing them for 22 Fours And 2 Sixes during his stay. Every Pakistani bowler Kohli faced took a severe beating as the Delhi batsman smashed them all across the park.
Kohli amassed 183 in 148 balls and helped India chase such a high total with the utmost ease. Virat had shown earlier signs of exceptional talent, but this 100 helped him establish himself as one of the finest batsmen on the Asian continent and possibly on the planet in the current generation, later on.
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Virat Kohli’s innings of 183 vs Pakistan in 2012 Asia Cup is the joint second-highest score in a run-chase by an Indian in the limited-overs format. India managed to chase down a mammoth 330 runs with 13 balls to spare as Virat Kohli stole the spotlight from Sachin and Rohit Sharma’s knocks of 52 and 68 respectively.
Tendulkar contributed a half-century runs to India’s score ending his Last ODI with a score of 52. Earlier on, Tendulkar created a record by scoring 100th ton in international cricket. The Master from Mumbai achieved the feat against Bangladesh in the tournament.
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Kohli couldn’t get his team over the line getting dismissed in the 48th over. By then, the damage was done and India were favorites to win the match with the Boys in blue needing just 12 runs off 17 balls. This was Kohli’s 11th ODI century, and since then he has added 30 more to his name.
Virat showed his potential to the world and announced himself as a batsman destined to succeed and will be an integral part of the Indian team in the long haul. It one of the most significant trademarked Kohliesque innings that made him the chase master he is today.
Want to relive the Kohli masterclass, watch the video below.
