(AFP)

Virat Kohli was lost for words as his unbeaten 82 took India to a stunning last-ball win against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup on Sunday after Sri Lanka had earlier strolled to a nine-wicket victory over Ireland.

India looked down and out at 45-4 halfway through their pursuit of arch-rival Pakistan’s 159-8 with 90,000 spectators working themselves into a frenzy in an incredible atmosphere at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

But Kohli, with 82 off 53 balls and Hardik Pandya, who scored 40 off 37, launched an incredible fightback with a century stand.

India still needed 60 off the last five overs, which was reduced to an unlikely 28 with only eight balls remaining.

Kohli then bludgeoned two towering sixes off Haris Rauf to leave India needing 16 off the final over from a nervous Mohammad Nawaz, who peppered it with wides and no-balls to help them to their target.

“It’s a surreal atmosphere, I have no words, no idea how that happened,” said Kohli, back to his rampant best after a lean couple of years.

“I am really lost for words. Hardik believed we can do it, if we stayed till the end.”

India captain Rohit Sharma, who was out for just four, was full of praise for Kohli and Pandya’s stand and admitted he had thought at one stage: “We were in no position to win this.”

“Those two guys are experienced. Staying calm and taking the game deep was very critical. Good for our confidence,” he said.

A deflated Pakistan captain Babar Azam paid tribute to Kohli.

“Our bowlers bowled really well. We had a chance, we tried to stick to our plans. But credit to Virat Kohli.”

Few sporting rivalries match the passion of India-Pakistan and the atmosphere, already electric, hit fever pitch when Pakistan’s openers were dismissed cheaply after being sent into bat, with Azam out lbw for a golden duck to Arshdeep Singh.

There was no let-up in the ear-splitting noise right to the breathless final over which included Kohli hitting a six off a no-ball, then running three byes after being bowled off a free hit.

A wide and some scrambled runs left Kohli at the non-striker’s end with two needed off two balls.

Dinesh Karthik was then stumped down the leg side as he stumbled out of his ground leaving Ravi Ashwin needing two off the final delivery.

‘Spectacular!’

“As good a game as I can remember seeing in T20 cricket .. Both teams bring so much .. 90 thousand at the G .. UNBELIEVABLE,” tweeted former England captain Michael Vaughan.

India betting legend Sachin Tendulkar wrote on social media: “@imVkohli, it was undoubtedly the best innings of your life. It was a treat to watch you play, the six off the back foot in the 19th over against Rauf over long on was spectacular!”

Earlier in Hobart, disciplined bowling and an unbeaten half-century by Kusal Mendis powered Sri Lanka to a nine-wicket hammering of Ireland in their opening Super 12 match.

Asian champions Sri Lanka restricted Ireland to 128-8 which they strolled past with five overs to spare.

“Really happy the way we played. That is the kind of cricket we want to play,” skipper Dasun Shanaka said.

Mendis, a wicketkeeper-batsman, smashed five fours and three sixes in an unbeaten stand with Charith Asalanka, who made 31, to hand Sri Lanka two points with a good net run-rate.

The island nation have turned around their fortunes after being stunned by Namibia in their first-round opener. They bounced back to advance to the Super 12.

India next face the Netherlands on Thursday in Sydney, while Pakistan will need to bounce back on the same day against Zimbabwe in Perth.

Ireland face the in-form England next in Melbourne on Wednesday, while Sri Lanka will take on Australia, who lost their opening match to New Zealand, in Perth on Tuesday.

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Virat Kohli appears to have rediscovered his form after a difficult couple of years during which he struggled and was also forced to give up the India captaincy. He is now proving the world on being unstoppable with the bat.

Kohli is in the perfect state of mind right now, which is when he is at his finest.
He will become a stronger person and a better player as a result of the difficult circumstances he has experienced.

Kohli’s strong comeback

He scored his third century in his last four ODI innings on Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram, when he hit a stunning 166 not out off 110 balls against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI.

Having gone three years without scoring a century in international cricket, Kohli had a challenging stretch before the Asia Cup last year. In September 2022, at the Asia Cup, he eventually broke his dry spell by scoring 122 off 61 balls against Afghanistan. Since then, he hasn’t looked back.

“Even the best players will occasionally experience a bit of a decline in their performance.”

Former chief selector’s remarks on Kohli

“These athletes have excelled for the nation for about ten to fifteen years, and as a result, they are familiar with how to bounce back when they lose their form,” MSK Prasad, a former chief selector stated.

Prasad is of the opinion that Kohli’s month-long sabbatical from playing last year was crucial in assisting him with regaining his form. It was the first time Kohli has ever gone 30 days without touching a bat, he said.

“More than anything else, he genuinely needed mental rest.” He experienced certain difficulties, but he continued to play, and as a result, a lot of them accumulated. Prasad draws attention to this.

Prasad then added,”I believed he ought to have taken a vacation a long time ago, perhaps shortly after the T20  World Cup in 2021. Since he had a vacation prior to the Asia Cup (in 2022), we have seen the authentic Virat Kohli again, who scored a lot of runs similar to those in 2016.”

“He is in a good mood right now and performing at his peak.”  “He has certainly gone through some difficult moments recently, but I have no doubt that this has only strengthened him as a person and improved his game.”

“I think the sabbatical has actually advanced his career by four to five years.” He is the type of character who thrives on challenges, and he accepted and overcame that one. “We have the old Virat Kohli back thanks to a great break he took and some introspective self-knowledge.”

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Sachin Tendulkar is the sensation cricketer for the Indian cricket team and is been an idol for many of the young cricket players. Currently, guide the Indian team as a coach and supports Mumbai Indians in the Indian premier league. Former top order batsmen of Indian national cricket team. Take a look at How many balls were played by Sachin Tendulkar in their international cricket career.

Sachin had played many matches and had set a record that is still not broken yet. The player who had scored more than 20% of the runs in the Indian cricket team in national or international matches. He has a lot of experience on the field with both bowling and batting. Sachin was mostly known for his batting style as it seems to be in another class than other international players.

Sachin Tendulkar test match stats

He had played about 200 test matches with scoring a maximum run of 15921 with an exceptional average of 53.8 runs per over. The record has not been broken yet as no individual was not able to score 15000 + runs in just 200 test matches. He had contributed more than 30% of the team’s runs in the format of a test match.

Sachin Tendulkar ODI match stats

Was once called as God of ODI due to his score with bat and ball as well. Sachin Tendulkar had played about 463 one-day international matches by contributing a total of 18426 runs in his career with an exceptional average of 44.8 with a strike rate of 86.2. he had played about 21367 balls in just ODI matches. Had scored about 18 runs in his whole international ODI career.

Sachin Tendulkar T20I match stats

According to the record Sachin had played only a single T20 International in his whole career and was been sent out of the field for just 10 runs in the match. He would have scored more and better considering his stats in other formats. One of the best cricketers of all time he would have faced more than 50000 delivery in just his international Career taking into consideration of 464 ODI matches and 200 test matches.

Cricket is one of the largest growing sports in the world. The game is slowly and Steadily gaining popularity in different continents. Various Events related to cricket are organized throughout the world by ICC to promote and make other nations participate in the league.

One of them is the ICC Cricket World Cup organized by the International Cricket Council which is the Highest Governing Body of Cricket. 12 Editions of World cups have been played so far, the Tournament is played once every four years.

Many runs are scored and Wickets are taken as the competition is very tough and the winner is crowned as the world champions. Australia has won the most number of World Cup which is 5 times and England is the current Champions of the league. World Cup has seen many Batsmen do wonders on the Field, Let’s have a look at the Batsmen who have scored the most runs in Cricket World Cup.

1) Sachin Tendulkar– Also known as the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar is considered one of the greatest Batsmen in crickets history. Tendulkar has scored the most number of runs in International Cricket. In the world cup also, he is the highest run-scorer, Sachin has played 45 matches and has batted in 44 innings. In those innings, he has scored 2278 runs which include 6 centuries and 15 half Centuries. His highest score in World Cup is 152 runs.

Batsman	Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born	24 April 1973
Span	1992-2011
Matches	45
Runs	2278 runs

2) Ricky Ponting– Ricky Ponting is an Australian Batsman who led the Aussies in the Golden era of their Team. Ponting is the most successful captain in International Cricket. Apart from this, he also is a very successful Batsman who has played crucial innings which made Australia a world-class team. In World Cup, Ponting has played 42 innings in 46 matches. He has scored 1743 runs which include 6 centuries and 6 half-centuries and has a high score of 140 not out.

Batsman	Ricky Thomas Ponting
Born	19 December 1974
Span	1996-2011
Matches	46
Runs	1743 runs

3) Kumar Sangakkara– Sangakkara was a wicket Keeper batsman who played for Sri Lanka. He has scored the second most amount of runs in ODI cricket and is considered as one of the greatest Wicket Keeper Batsman. He has the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in ODI. In World Cup, Sangakkara has played 37 matches and batted in 35 innings. He has scored 1532 runs which include 5 centuries and 7 half-centuries and a high score of 124.

Batsman	Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara
Born	27 October 1977
Span	2003-2015
Matches	37
Runs	1532 runs

4) Brian Lara– Brian Lara is regarded as one of the greatest Batsmen of all time. He has broken many records in Test and has scored the highest individual score in Test innings. Lara apart from being very good in Test, also performed in World Cups in which he played 34 matches and 33 innings. He has scored 1125 runs which include 2 centuries and 7 half-centuries with a high score of 116.

Batsman	Brian Charles Lara
Born	2 May 1969
Span	1992-2007
Matches	34 Matches
Runs	1125

5) AB de Villiers– Ab de Villiers is a South African Batsman who holds the record of fastest 50,100 and 150 runs in ODI cricket. De Villiers is known for his attacking batting style and his wide range of Shots. In World Cup, he has played 22 innings in 23 matches. He has scored 1207 runs with 4 centuries and 6 half-centuries and a high score of 162 runs not out.

Batsman	Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (Cricketer)
Born	17 February 1984
Span	2007-2015
Matches	23 Matches
Runs	1207 Runs

Test cricket is the oldest form of Cricket played to date. It is considered as the purest form of cricket played for 5 days with each team batting and bowling twice. Test cricket is very tough to play as it requires lots of patience and skills to play for continuous days. Many teams have done that and have excelled in the format.

To make a team successful in any format, the role of captain is very important. They lead the team and guide the players on how to perform. Currently, the Indian Test team stands on the top of the points table of ICC Test Rankings. It’s not easy to take the team to such a height, the captain has to take risk and even has to take some harsh decisions for which he may face a lot of criticism.

INDIAN NATIONAL CRICKET TEAM attained Test status in the year 1931 and played their first match against England which started on 25 June 1932 and ended on 28 June 1932 and was played in the iconic Lords Stadium in London. Since then, India has played 560 Test Matches in which they have won 166 matches and lost 173 matches and 220 matches were drawn.

In the span of 90 years, India has seen many Captains taking hold of the team. Some took the team to new Heights and broke records while some did not perform as per expectations. Currently, the Captain post of the Indian Test Team is vacant as the former Captain of the Virat Kohli resigned from the post after a series of defeats against South Africa. Let’s have a look at the captain who has led the Indian team in the most number of the Matches.

Captain to lead Team India in Most number of Matches

Virat Kohli is the captain who has led the Indian team in the most number of Matches. Kohli has captained the Indian Test Team for seven years and has achieved many feats in his span. He has led the Team in 68 matches which is the most by any Indian Captain. In 68 matches, India has emerged winner in 40 which makes him the most successful Indian Test Captain and the Fourth most successful captain in the world.

Kohli became Test captain in 2014 after MS Dhoni stepped down as captain following defeat against Australia. Under Kohli’s captaincy, India has never lost any Test Series in home soil. He has maintained a 100% win record at home and they became the first Asian Country to win a series on Australian Soil. Seeing the stats, we cannot argue that Kohli is one of the greatest captains.