T20 World Cup 2022: India VS Pakistan - Three moments that turned the game for India

Harsha Bhogle said, "I have seen Virat for so many years. I have never seen a tear in his eyes. I saw it today. This was unforgettable."

It started with Arshdeep Singh dismissing Pakistan's backbone opening duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam and ended with the Virat Kohli chase game geared by his sheer determination of team India. 

India lost its four wickets early for mere 31 runs while chasing a mammoth total of 159 at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Driven on the back of a 78-ball 113-run partnership, India took the game deep not to give an easy win to their arch-rivals.

India managed to reach 112-4 in the 17th over and still needed 48 in the final three overs, which were to be bowled by Pakistan's star bowlers Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz. And to the least expectation, India shifted the gears towards themselves in these overs. 

17-run 18th over by Shaheen Shah Afridi

When India was in shortage of runs as they could fetch just 12 runs from the 16th and 17th overs and the ball in Shaheen Afridi's hand implied more pressure on Indian batters, Virat Kohli opened his hand to smash a four on the very first ball and complete his 50. 

Second ball going for wide, he smashed two more boundaries in the over and four runs from running between the wicket to reduce the score to 31 needed from the final two overs. This above saw 17 runs, giving India a lost ray of hope for the last overs.  

Back-to-back sixes at the end of Haris Rauf's economical spell 

Haris Rauf bowled much tighter to Hardik Pandya, taking over from Shaheen Afridi's expensive over. In an attempt to hit big, the batter could not connect the bat with the ball, thus getting just three runs in 4 balls. And again, the match looked to slip from India's hand with the high asking rate. 

But when the strike came to Virat Kohli on the 5th ball, he thumped a slower short ball for a gracious six down the ground. He didn't stop here and went for another six over the fine leg, capitalising the penultimate over for 15-runs and bringing the match to balanced competition.

Virat Kohli said, "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."

He added, "[On the two sixes off Rauf:] It's just instinctively I saw it, told myself to stay still. The one at long-on was unexpected, it was a back-of-a-length slower ball. The fine leg one, I just threw my bat at it." 

No ball plus wide on the 4th ball of the final over

"We needed a wicket, that's why we utilised our main bowlers [and kept Nawaz for the end].", said Babar Azam.

With 16 runs needed from the final, Mohammad Nawaz came in to defend the runs and gave a bamboozling start by dismissing Hardik Pandya on the first ball. 

Dinesh Karthik took a single to give the strike back to Virat Kohli, who took a double on the third ball. With 13 runs needed from 3 balls, there was intense pressure on Virat Kohli and the bowler. 

But what followed next was a great sign of luck for India as Virat Kohli smashed a no-ball for a six. This no-ball became the biggest game changer, reducing the equation to 6 needed from 3. The bowler, under pressure, bowled the next ball for a comprehensive, and this way, India fetched ten runs solely from the 4th ball of the over. With two needed off 2, Dinesh Karthik got stumped out, again making the situation intense and balanced out as Nawaz bowled the final ball, a wide. Ravichandran Ashwin sealed the thrilling win for India.