Virat Kohli scored 82 not out off 53 balls on Sunday as India edged past Pakistan by four wickets in a last-ball thriller at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. While Kohli's knock helped India start their T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note, it also saw him breaking Sachin Tendulkar's big World Cup record. Before the game vs Pakistan, both Kohli and Tendulkar had 23 fifty-plus scores each in white-ball tournaments of ICC, but Kohli's knock on Sunday helped him surpass Tendulkar and become the number one batter with most 50-plus scores in limited-overs tournaments of the ICC.
Meanwhile, Kohli also surpassed Rohit Sharma to become the leading run-scorer in T20I cricket. Kohli now has 3794 runs to his credit across 110 matches, while Rohit has scored 3741 runs in 143 games.
The explosive half-century by Kohli and his century stand for the fifth wicket with Hardik Pandya helped India defeat Pakistan in the Group 2, Super-12 match of the ongoing mega event in Australia.
Chasing 160 runs against Pakistan, India were on the brink of losing the game after being reduced to 31 for 4 in 6.1 overs, but Kohli's magical knock kept them in the hunt till the last ball of the match and the side eventually won the thriller.
"I have no words, no idea how that happened. I am really lost for words. Hardik believed we can do it, if we stayed till the end," said Kohli after the game.
While the cricket pundits hailed Kohli's knock against Pakistan as the best innings by the player to date, he himself rated it above the famous Mohali knock he played against Australia in the 2016 T20 World Cup.
"Till today Mohali was my best innings against Australia. Today I will count this one higher. Hardik (Pandya) kept pushing me. The crowd has been phenomenal. You guys (fans) kept backing me and I am grateful for your support," concluded the batting maestro.