'My best innings': Kohli hails magnitude of MCG epic

Virat Kohli said his extraordinary match-winning knock against Pakistan at the MCG was his best in the format while captain Rohit Sharma hailed it as one of the greatest in the country's proud cricket history.

The superstar batter rose to the massive occasion in front of 90,293 fans at the MCG on Sunday night, lifting India to an unforgettable four-wicket win over Pakistan in their opening T20 World Cup match.

For Kohli, it surpassed his epic against the Aussies in the 2016 T20 World Cup in Mohali, coincidentally both knocks being 82no.

"Till today I have always said Mohali was my best innings, against Australia: I got 82 off (51). Today I got 82 off 53. So they are exactly the same innings, but I think today I will count this one higher because of the magnitude of the game and what the situation was," Kohli told Star Sports after the match.

On that occasion, Kohli was the aggressor in India's charge past the Aussies to book a semi-final spot and end Australia's tournament.

On Sunday, India appeared destined to begin this year's tournament with a disappointing defeat to their biggest rivals, having stumbled to 4-31 chasing Pakistan's 8-159.

Initially fearing he was "messing this game up" when 12 off 21, Kohli's experience proved vital as he teamed up with Hardik Pandya (40 off 37) for a rescue mission, with the pair putting on a 113-run fourth-wicket partnership.

Kohli was still there at the end, unbeaten on 82 from 53 balls, as Ravi Ashwin hit the winning run off the final ball to send the Indian fans into pandemonium.

"When you have experience then you understand the value of batting deep," Kohli said. "That's always been my role playing for India, to bat 16-17 overs. Because I know that I can do a lot of the power-hitting towards the latter half of the innings.

"I can strike at 250-300 as well, when I become really confident and there's only one guy under pressure and that's the bowler.

"A lot of people talk about pressure while chasing. For me, it's clarity. You know exactly what you have on the board, and you just need to get it.

"So it's a difference of perspective, which has always helped me. And I like these challenges, I take a lot of pride in them. These are the kinds of games that you play cricket for.

"After 14-15 years, you need challenges like this to kind of wake you up once again and be like, you know, let's go again."

Rohit believes his predecessor as India captain played an innings that will go down in cricket folklore.

"We know how good he is when the score is in front of him, he's one of the best chasers in the world," Rohit said of Kohli.

"Definitely his best, but I think from the situation we were in and to come out (with) victory, I think it has to be one of India's best knocks, not just his best.

"To come out and chase that score was an extremely brilliant effort from Virat and then obviously Hardik played a role there as well."

India had still needed 54 from the final four overs, and Kohli said he took the onus to target Haris Rauf and smacked two incredible sixes to finish the 19th over and put India back in the game.

"I told (Hardik) if I can take Haris down then they will panic because he was their prime bowler. So I was kind of pumping myself up to hit two sixes when we needed 28 off eight and that became 16 off six.

"The (six) at long-on was unexpected. It was a back-of-a-length slower ball. And the next one, I just swung my bat through the line of the ball and it flew over fine leg. Now standing here, I just feel like it was meant to be. It's a very, very special moment."

One of the greatest batters of his generation, Kohli has not been up to his usual prolific standards over the past three years.

The 33-year-old went almost three years without scoring an international century before smashing an unbeaten 122 against Afghanistan in last month's Asia Cup.

Rohit defended Kohli's form, saying he never wavered in his faith for a player who has made 71 tons at international level.

"I honestly don't think he was struggling with form or anything," Rohit said.

"He was batting as good, but with him the expectations are always so high so even if he gets a good 30 or 40 that doesn't get spoken about."

India are next in action against the Netherlands at the SCG on Thursday as they eye their first T20 World Cup title since 2007, while Pakistan will play Zimbabwe in Perth later on the same evening.

Men's T20 World Cup 2022

Australia squad: Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Australia's fixtures

Oct 22: New Zealand beat Australia by 89 runs

Oct 25: v Sri Lanka, Perth Stadium, 10pm AEDT

Oct 28: v England, MCG, 7pm AEDT

Oct 31: v Ireland, Gabba, 7pm AEDT

Nov 4: v Afghanistan, Adelaide Oval, 7pm AEDT

Click here for the full 2022 T20 World Cup fixture