To say Virat Kohli is a popular cricketing figure would be an understatement. He has a huge following wherever he goes, and often, crowds in India even start chanting the name of his IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore, even when he is playing for the nation. On Friday, at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur, before India took on Australia in the second T20I, the crowd started chanting "RCB, RCB" as Kohli walked out to the team dressing room balcony. But Kohli was quick to point to the India logo on his jersey as his India and RCB teammate Harshal Patel sat in amusement next to him.
The match in Nagpur started more than two hours later than it was scheduled due to a wet outfield. The match was reduced to eight overs per side.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field and Australia made 90/5 in their eight overs, with Matthew Wade (43* off 20) and Aaron Finch (31 off 15) playing starring roles.
Axar Patel was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking two wickets for 13 runs from his two overs.
Rohit Sharma then smashed an unbeaten 46 off 20 deliveries to take India home with six wickets and four deliveries to spare.
Adam Zampa picked three wickets, but it wasn't enough to stop a slaloming Rohit Sharma. It was Dinesh Karthik who hit the winning runs, smashing a six and a four off the first two deliveries of the final over.
With the win, India levelled the series 1-1, with the decider to be played in Hyderabad on Sunday.