Ross Taylor shares special tweet for record-breaker Virat Kohli; India star ticks off incredible milestone in IND vs PAK
Virat Kohli joined Ross Taylor of New Zealand in the elusive club of players to have played 100 games in all three formats.
Hardik Pandya's all-round brilliance powered India to a thrilling five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in an Asia Cup 2022 game on Sunday. Pandya returned figures of 3/25 in 4 overs before his unbeaten 33 off 17 deliveries, which preceded Virat Kohli's 34-ball 35. The former India skipper showed glimpses of his old self with a trademark pull shot to the mid-wicket fence. He was staring at a much-needed fifty but holed out at long off in the 10th over.
The high-octane clash of the Asia Cup was Kohli's 100th T20 International. The mercurial player had made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in 2010 before evolving into one of the best in business. He returned to action after a seven-week break amid his batting slump and joined Ross Taylor of New Zealand in the elusive club of players to have played 100 games in all three formats.
Taylor shared a special tweet for the Indian on Monday. "Congratulations @imVkohli on your 100th T20 game for India. Welcome to the club. I look forward to watching many more of your games in the years to come!"
Kohli is the third-highest run scorer in T20I cricket, following Rohit Sharma (3,499) and New Zealand's Martin Guptill (3,497) and his country's second highest-run scorer. He also has second most fifty-plus scores in T20Is, with 30. At first is his skipper Rohit Sharma who has 31 fifty-plus scores, including four centuries.
Coming to the match, Pakistan were bundled out for 148 in 19.4 overs with Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar sharing seven wickets. Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan also thwarted the opposition to pick up two and one wicket, respectively.
In response, India lost KL Rahul for a duck in the very first over before Kohli resurrected the innings. But twin strikes from Mohammed Nawaz, who took Rohit and Kohli's wickets, reduced India to 3/53.
A 52-run stand between Jadeja (35) and Hardik Pandya (33*) followed, which took India close to a win and in-form Pandya finished the proceedings with a six with two balls to spare, taking India to a five-wicket win.
