T20 World Cup 2022: “Gold will stay gold…won’t become brass”- Anjum Chopra sums up Virat Kohli’s match-winning knock against Pakistan

Former Indian captain Anjum Chopra has praised Virat Kohli for his special knock against Pakistan, which led the Indian fans to erupt in joy after his heroics on Sunday (October 27).

She compared him to gold while taking a dig at his trollers for questioning his batting skills during his lean patch ahead of the 2022 Asia Cup.

The Delhi batter slammed an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls against Pakistan, including four sixes and six boundaries. He ensured that the Men in Blue snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Babar Azam and Co. in their T20 World Cup opening group stage fixture.

Chasing 160, he also shared a crucial partnership with Hardik Pandya 40 (37) to recover India from 31/4.

Speaking on her YouTube channel, Anjum Chopra said:

“For a brief period of time ahead of the T20 World Cup, many people were discussing that Virat Kohli is no longer a T20 player or a better player like he used to be in the past.”

She added:

“Gold will stay gold…won’t become brass. The longer you put pressure on gold, it will add to its magnificence. Virat is one such player.”

The No.3 batter also called it the best innings of his T20I career after his memorable knock in front of a packed 90,000+ crowd at the MCG.

Speaking to Star Sports post-match, he said:

"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."

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Virat Kohli breaks Rahul Dravid’s record in international cricket

During his exceptional knock against Pakistan, Kohli also eclipsed former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid (current Team India head coach) for most runs in international runs among Indians after the legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

He now has 24,212 runs in 474 matches after overtaking Dravid, who had scored 24,208 runs in 509 games. Tendulkar is on top of the runs chart with 34,357 runs in 664 matches.

The former Indian captain, however, still lags behind Jacques Kallis, Mahela Jayawardena, Ricky Ponting, and Kumar Sangakkara in the overall list.

Kohli has already amassed 567 runs in 15 T20Is this year, including a century and five fifties. He is expected to continue his purple patch in Australia throughout the T20 World Cup 2022 as the Men in Blue chase only their second trophy after a 15-year gap.

The right-handed batter will be in action against the Netherlands at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Thursday (October 27).