India head coach Gautam Gambhir named Virat Kohli’s stellar knock against Pakistan 12 years ago as the best ODI knock by an Indian player.
The Gambhir-Kohli duo recently featured in a video shared by the BCCI, where they both discussed their journey in the sport.
In one of the clip’s segments, the coach referred to Kohli’s brilliant 183 against their arch-rivals in the Asia Cup.
“I saw you make your debut, play that very important knock in the Champions Trophy in South Africa on a tricky wicket against the West Indies, and then playing probably the best one-day innings that has been played by an Indian batter, and I have said this before,” Gambhir added.
Virat Kohli was unstoppable in Mirpur as India faced Pakistan on March 18, 2012. With Gautam Gambhir departing early, a young Kohli guided India to a successful chase.
Talking about the quality of that knock, Gambhir said, “Not purely from a point of view because guys have scored double hundreds as well, it is the best innings I have ever seen because of the quality of the opposition, the conditions, chasing 300-plus against Pakistan.”
The 5th fixture of the 2011/12 Asia Cup witnessed Pakistan rack up 329 runs while batting first. They had not lost a wicket until the 36th over. Both the opening batters had scored centuries. India’s chase did not have an impressive start as Gautam Gambhir returned to the dressing room scoring a duck facing two balls.
That was when Virat Kohli stepped up, smashing 22 boundaries and one six during his innings. Before being dismissed by Umar Gul in the 48th over, Kohli scored a 148-ball 183. It is the eighth-highest individual score by an Indian in ODI cricket. Kohli is joined by former Indian skippers Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni in the spot.
In the same video, Gautam Gambhir also heaped praise on Virat Kohli for setting the benchmark in Indian cricket.
Talking about his legacy in the sport, the former Indian cricketer and current head coach of the side added, “You’ve done some really special things. Most importantly for me, how you have taken Indian cricket forward is probably the legacy you have left for the next generation.”
Virat Kohli is currently competing in the ongoing home Test series against Bangladesh. It is also the first red-ball cricket tour under Gautam Gambhir’s management. The first innings of the series opener did not turn out to be a memorable one for Kohli who departed scoring six runs.
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