Virat Kohli has scripted many victories for his country across formats but was left a little stumped when asked to pick his favourite one other than India’s 2011 World Cup final victory.
The India captain picked the quarter-final win over Australia at the 2016 T20 World Cup, then the World T20, for the importance of the match and the atmosphere.
“Apart from the 2011 finals, my other favourite match from keeping in mind the atmosphere and importance of the game, it would be the 2016 T20 World Cup quarter-finals against Australia in Mohali,” Kohli said on Star Sports ‘Cricket Connected’ show.
Kohli was part of India’s World Cup triumph in 2011 after beating Sri Lanka in the final by six wickets. The Men in Blue under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, brought the trophy back home after a long gap of 28 years.
Kohli, who walked into bat at No 4 after the fall of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket, played a key role during India’s thrilling chase in the final, building an 83-run partnership for the third wicket alongside opener Gautam Gambhir.
In addition to that glorious moment at the Wankhede, the 2016 World T20 quarter-final game against Australia in Mohali played on March 27 was also of big importance for him – where Kohli’s unbeaten 82 helped India snatch a thrilling six-wicket win with five balls to spare and enter the semi-finals of the tournament.
Despite Kohli’s heroics, India’s campaign eventually came to an end after losing to West Indies by seven wickets in their next knockout game.
With all cricket activities suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected sports all across the globe, Kohli earlier said that cricket would lose its magic moments if it goes ahead without spectators. The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League has been indefinitely postponed and there are also doubts over the T20 World Cup in Australia taking place in October.
“It’s quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don’t know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans,” Kohli said.
“I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate,” he added.
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