Virat Kohli felt he was 'messing the game up' during India's epic run-chase

Virat Kohli was the man of the moment (Source: AP)

Former Indian captain Virat Kohli played one of the finest knocks of his career against Pakistan during the Men in Blues' T20 World Cup 2022 opener. 

The 33-year-old charted an unbeaten 82 to guide India home in a pulsating thriller. 

Kohli has now reflected on his match-winning knock and revealed how he was wary of his slow start and the pressure he was under. He also added that Hardik Pandya eased the pressure with his aggressive approach and allowed Kohli to settle down. 

The Indian batter started slowly, scoring just 12 runs from his first 21 balls. However, he believes that he always knew he could accelerate towards the end of the innings with his power hitting capabilities. 

At a time when India were losing wickets in quick succession, Kohli's slow approach was the need of the hour. India needed someone to calm things down in the middle and keep the scoreboard ticking with singles and doubles instead of taking risks for boundaries. 

Pandya came on and added quick runs to alleviate some pressure and Kohli managed to plan the run chase to perfection. 

The Indian star put his foot down towards the end and smacked the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf across the park. 

As quoted by Hindustan Times, Kohli said: 

"When I was 12 off 21, I was like 'I am really messing the game up. I am not putting ball in the gaps'. But when you have experience and understand the value of batting deep, that's always been my role playing for India. I know that I can do a lot of the power-hitting towards the end of the innings.

"Honestly, I was feeling a lot of pressure at that stage. But then when he came in and he hit a few boundaries, I kind of opened up. That partnership, we didn't even realise when we got to our 100. We kept talking, we kept running hard and kept watching their body language. We knew it would turn at some stage, it turned quite late to be honest. We would have liked to do it earlier."

Also Read: 'I found it quite amusing': Brett Lee takes a swipe at Virat Kohli's critics