T20 World Cup 2022: Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar heaped praise on Virat Kohli for playing a stupendous knock in the Super 12 match against Pakistan at the MCG.

King is back with a bang: Shoaib Akhtar delighted to see Kohli back in form. Courtesy: AP

By India Today Web Desk: Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was delighted to see Virat Kohli back in form after the Indian batter played a match-winning knock against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. On Sunday, October 23, in the Super 12 match, the 33-year-old Kohli won the Player of the Match award after scoring an unbeaten 53-ball 82 with the help of six fours and four sixes.

On the back of his knock, India beat Pakistan by four wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and started their Super 12 campaign on a stupendous note. Akhtar also reckoned that Kohli might have played the greatest innings of his lifetime.

Moreover, Shoaib lauded the Delhi-born Kohli for enduring a lot of troubles in the last couple of years and showing his sheer class on a big stage.

“Jab iraade tuthte hain to yakeen bahar aata hain aur jab yaaken pokhta ho jaata hain to character bahar aata hain and uska naam Virat Kohli hain,” Shoaib was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.

“It may be the biggest innings of his lifetime. He was able to play because he had the belief that he could do it. He stayed down and out for three years, he didn’t score runs, he was stripped of the captaincy, he had to face a lot of flak, people even targeted his family,” he stated.

“But he kept training, he kept working hard. Even before Diwali, Kohli lit fireworks as he decided that the stage was perfect for him to make a comeback, for his name. The king is back and he is back with a bang and I am really happy for him,” Shoaib added.

Kohli had a massive task at hand after India lost the early wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel. But he stitched together a 113-run stand with Hardik Pandya and brought India back into the contest. In the last over, Kohli helped India score 16 runs off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz.