Kamran Akmal: 'If this was Pakistan batting line-up, not Kohli, they would've lost'
Virat Kohli produced a memorable 82* off 53 to help India beat Pakistan at the MCG in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Kamran Akmal came out in praise of Indian batting giant Virat Kohli after Pakistan's loss in the thriller at the MCG on Sunday (October 23) for the T20 World Cup 2022.
The former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter said if the roles were reversed and had Pakistan found themselves 31 for 4 chasing 160, they would've lost the match by 30-40 runs.
Akmal said Kohli was the difference between the two sides in what was a game fought till the last ball in Australia, scoring an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls to help secure a four-wicket victory for his team.
Virat Kohli overcame a slow start, being 12* off 21 at one stage, to produce a late flourish for the memories. The batter shared a critical 113-run stand with premier allrounder Hardik Pandya and produced 70 runs off his last 32 balls in the middle.
Kamran Akmal raves over Virat Kohli
"If there was any other batter in his place, the match would not have come this far. Honestly, if this was our (Pakistan) batting we would have lost it by 30-40 runs. We can't handle such pressure," Akmal said on his official YouTube channel.
"I think all our young boys (in Pakistan) who are playing in U15 and U19 camps should be shown the entire innings of Virat Kohli. They will get coaching from watching his innings and how he finished the match."
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Virat Kohli's innings featured 6 fours and 4 sixes, a pair of which came on successive balls near the close of the 19th over against Pakistan's death-overs bank Haris Rauf.
For the first, Kohli went slicing the speedster over the deep fine-leg region, before he stood tall on a short ball and hammered Rauf over long-on to ease the task for India.
"The kind of shots he played against Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz in the last over. Only a batter of his stature can play something like this in modern-day cricket. The way Kohli smashed Rauf for a six straight down the ground, nobody can do that," Akmal added.