Just over 5 months back, the Indian stalwart, Virat Kohli produced a magical night in Melbourne as he made a thunderous return by casting his spell at the MCG against Pakistan at the 2022 T20 World Cup. The memories of that knock and those iconic sixes remain vivid in each of Indian cricket fan. But remains a topic of curiosity for experts, the silenced critics, and fans as to what and how things truly unfolded in Kohli’s mind. And the India star would say “I still can’t make any sense of it”.
A year back after getting humiliated in Dubai where India suffered a 10-wicket loss against Pakistan, the Indian team found themselves in hard water in the over after a powerplay during their chase. A disciplined Pakistan attack had kept India under control with Kohli struggling to find the gaps as well. But Kohli and Hardik Pandya stitched a partnership of 112 with Virat changing gears when he smashed Haris Rauf for back-to-back sixes.
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Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 82 eventually guided India to a memorable win against Pakistan. Speaking at a PUMA event, he was asked to recall that knock in Melbourne and he admitted that he still doesn’t know how he managed to pull off such a knock. He explained that he was under immense pressure that he had zoned out and hence paid no heed to head coach Rahul Dravid’s advice at the break.
As per the quotes in Hindustan Times, Virat Kohli said, “I still can’t make any sense of it. And a lot of people have tried to ask me what were you thinking, how did you plan and I have no answers. The fact of the matter is that I was so much under pressure that my mind had shut off completely by the 12th or 13th over. I was going through what I was going through, then I came back in Asia Cup and I was playing well and I felt like wow I’m ready to play to play in this World Cup.”
He further added, “At the 10th over mark, we were 31 for 4 and I had just ran Axar out. I was 12 off 25, or something. I remember in the break, Rahul bhai came to me and I don’t remember what he said. I swear and I even told him this as well. I told him, ‘I have no idea what you told me in that break because I was zoned out’.”
The veteran India batter admitted that with his mind completely shutting down, he batted only with his instincts. He believes that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for him and that it is unlikely to happen again in his career.
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Virat Kohli acknowledged, “My mind was spinning so fast…I was like this is worse than it was before. That is when my instinct took over. So, when I stopped thinking and planning, whatever God-given talent I have came to the surface, and then I felt like something higher was guiding me. The lesson for me was stop using your mind so much because it actually pushes you away from real magic. What happened that night, I can never explain it and it won’t happen ever again.”
