At the Men’s T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli’s record against Pakistan is matched by no other cricketer against any opposition.
Ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup clash between India and Pakistan at New York, all eyes will be on Virat Kohli, who boasts of a staggering career record against them.
From five games against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup, Kohli has amassed 308 runs, the most by anyone against a single opposition in the history of the tournament. The only other batter to have breached the 250-run mark is Chris Gayle, whose 289 runs against Australia have come in six matches.
Virat Kohli v Pakistan: Average of 308!
Perhaps an even more astonishing fact is Kohli’s four unbeaten innings from five games, which gives him an average of – no typo there – 308. Of batters with five innings against one team, Shoaib Malik’s 103 (103 runs, once dismissed in five innings) against Australia is the closest.
Kohli’s strike rate of 133 in these games may stand out like a sore thumb, but it must be remembered that India successfully chased in four of these games. In other words, Kohli’s strike rate in these matches was a function of the target.
That brings one to the subject of chases. Kohli has not been dismissed in the four games where India have batted second against Pakistan – all in wins, as mentioned before. He has scored 251 runs in chases against Pakistan – significantly more than Alex Hales’s 166 in three innings against Sri Lanka, the next entry on the list.
Kohli obviously does not have an average in T20 World Cup chases against Pakistan. With a three-innings cut-off, the nearest is Hales’s 83 (twice dismissed in three innings).
Kohli’s record against Pakistan in World Cups:
78*(61) at Colombo (Premadasa), 2012: After India bowled out Pakistan for 128, Kohli walked out when Gautam Gambhir fell to the second ball of the chase and saw India to an easy win with eight wickets and three overs in hand.
36*(32) at Mirpur, 2014: Pakistan made 130-7 this time and reduced India to 65-3 in 10.1 overs, but they could not take another wicket. Kohli and Suresh Raina (35 not out in 28 balls) saw India home with nine balls to spare.
55*(37) at Kolkata, 2016: Pakistan crawled to 118-5 in 18 overs in this rain-reduced match. India then slipped to 23-3, but Kohli – the only batter from either side to reach 30 – assumed control, dominating Pakistan’s four-pronged pace attack. India completed the chase with 13 balls in hand.
57(49) at Dubai, 2021: With a searing opening spell, Shaheen Shah Afridi reduced India to 6-2, but Kohli pushed them to 151-7 with a fifty. He perhaps left the final onslaught for too late, but so easy was Pakistan’s 10-wicket win that it would probably not have mattered.
82*(53) at Melbourne, 2022: The MCG chase has been rated by many as one of the greatest T20I innings of all time. Chasing 160, India slipped to 31-4 after 6.1 overs, but with Hardik Pandya for company, Kohli played out the spinners in the middle overs with ease. Then, with 48 to make in three overs, Kohli switched gears, and the chase was completed in the last ball.
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