Indian star batter Virat Kohli impressed his fans in his comeback match in T20Is. The right-handed batter scored 35 runs in 34 balls, including a six and three fours against Pakistan in their Asia Cup 2022 match at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday (August 28).
The Delhi batter came out to the crease when India lost their first wicket at 1/1, following vice-captain KL Rahul’s departure for a golden duck.
He shared 49-run stand with skipper Rohit Sharma for the second wicket but failed to play a big knock. He fell prey to Pakistani spinner Mohammad Nawaz in the 10th over, leaving the Men in Blue at 53/3 in a chase of 148.
Fans on Twitter shared contrasting reactions after the former India captain's dismissal. Some fans criticized the Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter for his slow strike rate and wished he had finished the match. A section of fans, meanwhile, expressed happiness at his shot-making during his innings of 35 runs.
Here are some of the reactions:
Earlier, Kohli survived an early dismissal as he was dropped by Fakhar Zaman at second slip off Naseem Shah in the high-voltage contest.
Rohit Sharma and Co. will hope that Virat Kohli continues to contribute to the Indian team. They will look to improve further in the build-up to the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November.
India beat Pakistan by five wickets to avenge last year's 10-wicket loss
Hardik Pandya put in an all-round performance that helped India beat Pakistan by five wickets in their first Asia Cup 2022 encounter on Sunday. He was helped by contributions from Ravindra Jadeja and Kohli, who both top-scored with 35 runs.
Pandya finished off the innings with a six over the long-on, remaining unbeaten on 33 runs in 17 balls.
Earlier, a clinical bowling performance from India restricted Pakistan to 147 in 19.5 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar registered his career-best figures of 4/26 against Pakistan, while Hardik Pandya scalped three wickets. Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan shared three wickets.
Mohammad Rizwan top-scored for Pakistan with 43 runs in 42 balls as the rest of the batting department failed to put up a show.
India will next play Hong Kong in the Asia Cup on Wednesday (August 31).
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