Virat Kohli after helping India beat Pakistan: 'My best innings till date'

Virat Kohli has said he rates his knock of 82 off 53 balls against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 as his T20I career's best innings.

Kohli's 34th T20I half-century on Sunday helped India defeat Pakistan by four wickets in their Super 12 clash at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). During India's chase of 160, the Men in Blue had a poor start, losing four wickets for just 30 runs.

The last time India played Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, which was last year in Dubai, the Indians ended up in the losing side, which was their first-ever defeat to these opponents in a World Cup game. Therefore, there was a sigh of relief on Kohli and Co's faces on Sunday when Ravichandran Ashwin hit the winning runs.

"It's a surreal atmosphere, I have no words, no idea how that happened. I am really lost for words. Hardik believed we can do it, if we stayed till the end. When Shaheen bowled from the pavilion end, that's when we decided to take him down. Haris is their prime bowler, and I hit those two sixes. The calculation was simple. Nawaz had one over to bowl, so if I could take Haris down, they would panic," said Kohli after he received the Player of the Match award.

Kohli also mentioned that Hardik, with whom he put up 113 runs for the fifth wicket, kept pushing him. It was the highest partnership for India against Pakistan for any wicket in T20Is.

"From 28 in 8, it came down to 16 to 6. I tried to stick to my instincts. The first one was the back of a hand slower ball (the one over long-on). Standing here I just feel like it was meant to be. Till today Mohali was my best innings against Australia. Today I will count this one higher. Hardik kept pushing me. The crowd has been phenomenal. You guys (fans) kept backing me and I am grateful for your support," added Kohli.

Meanwhile, with his latest knock, Kohli also surpassed Rohit Sharma in the list of most runs in T20Is. Kohli is the leading run-scorer in the shortest format on the international level with 3,794 runs in 110 games at a strike rate of 138.41 and an average of 51.97. Kohli has hit 34 fifties and a century, which came earlier this year in the Asia Cup.

Rohit, who managed just four off eight balls, has scored 3,741 runs in 143 games, including four centuries and 28 fifties.