Living up to his ‘chasemaster’ tag in the series decider against Aaron Finch-led Australia on Sunday, former Indian skipper Virat Kohli played a gem of a knock to rescue Rohit Sharma from a precarious situation at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Joining forces with middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav, Kohli guided the Rahul Dravid-coached side to a memorable win in the third and final T20I of the recently concluded bilateral series between India and Australia.
Asked to chase down a daunting total of 187 set by the reigning world champions in the series decider at Hyderabad, Team India lost star openers KL Rahul and Rohit inside the first four overs of their innings. Teaming up with an on-song Suryakumar, Kohli stitched a match-altering 104-run partnership off 62 balls with the middle-order batter to help India register a come-from-behind series win over the Men from the Down Under.
In conversation with veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle after the match, Kohli opened up about the important message he received from the dugout during India’s epic chase against Australia. “When Surya started hitting it like that, I kind of looked at the dugout as well and Rohit (Sharma) and Rahul (Dravid) both told me, ‘you can just keep batting on’ because Surya (Suryakumar) was striking it that well. It was just about building a partnership. I just used my experience a little bit, stayed back and as soon as he went away I tried to take on the first couple of balls and got a six off Pat Cummins and that set me up again,” said Kohli at the post-match presentation.
One of the leading run-getters in the history of T20I cricket, Kohli slammed a match-winning 63 off 48 balls. Kohli’s partner-in-crime in the 3rd T20I, Suryakumar smashed 69 off 36 balls as India won the final-over thriller by 6 wickets to clinch the series 2-1 at Hyderabad. India’s Suryakumar was named the Player of the Match for his batting masterclass against the Finch-led side.
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