After Ashwin’s lofted short as India won the match, not only the spectators but also the cricketers had tears in their eyes.
Melbourne, India gave Indians a big Diwali gift with a win against Pakistan. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Ravichandran Ashwin threw the ball towards mid-off on Mohammad Nawaz’s last ball, and the 90,000 spectators sitting in the ground and the fans standing outside jumped.
The rollercoaster ride of 40 overs ended with the fourth ball of the final over of the second innings. In which Kohli did a great job by hitting sixes. Nawaz made a mistake even before this six fell. Because this was a no-ball.
Then came the twist again with Dinesh Karthik falling on the fifth ball, needing one more wide and then a run off the final ball. In which Ashwin lofted short and India won the match. After this, not only the spectators on the field but also the cricketers had tears in their eyes.
Due to Virat Kohli’s magical batting, the Indian team made the impossible possible. In contrast to the sweet victory in Sharjah in 1986 with Javed Miandad’s six, there was a bitter defeat in Melbourne.
After Ashwin’s lofted short, Suryakumar Yadav reached the ground. He hugged Kohlin. After this, Ashwin also reached Kohli after completing the victory run. After this, all the players of the team rushed to the field. Rohit Sharma picked up Virat Kohli like a small child and started dancing.
Kohli also got into the fun. After this, Kohli fell alone and was pointing towards the sky. It was clear from Kohli’s expression that what was planned happened. The players got emotional after Kohli batted brilliantly on the field and supported all the players till the end to win the team.
Hardik Pandya had tears in his eyes. These tears were of faith. The entire team believed that anything is possible if Kohli is on the field.
India had a poor start like Pakistan. In which at the end of 10 overs, 4 wickets were lost on the score of 45 runs, at this time Kohli was playing by scoring 12 runs in 21 balls. Kohli must have thought that slow batting can create problems, but with Hardik’s support, both bats opened up.
Both the players used to rotate the strike by taking single-double along the boundary. These two players, who shared a partnership of more than 100, were together for 20 overs, but before the 20th over, Hardik was dismissed trying to play a big short, but Kohli was in rhythm. Now the team needed 16 runs in 5 balls. Hardik’s eyes were filled with victory after this.
Sunil Gavaskar has been spotted dancing in the commentary box and on the field many times. He has been seen flexing his waist not only in international matches, but Gavaskar’s dance in Melbourne was different. In 1987, Gavaskar scored 10,000 runs in a Test match. Ahmedabad was the ground and the opposing team was Pakistan. After this, Gavaskar kept raising his bat and receiving applause.
The difference here in Melbourne was that they didn’t have a bat, but their old approach was here. Gavaskar could not stop himself from dancing while clapping.
In 1986, when Pakistan defeated India by sixes, it was necessary that the psychological pressure on India should not increase again in the way that Miandad was seen. India fought till the last over and finally took control of the match.
Except for the first 10 overs and the last 3 overs, the Pakistan team always dominated India. After Kohli and Pandya plundered 20 runs in the 12th over, tension arose for Pakistan. Their fast bowlers had 6 overs left.
The problem started in the 18th over when Kohli hit three fours in Shaheen Afridi’s over. When two sixes were hit in the last two balls of the 19th over, after this the tension of the Pakistan team increased. Mohammad Nawaz left the spin and started bowling at slow medium pace. Nawaz started bowling no and wide balls.
Captain Babur started arguing with the Empire. It was clear from this that the Pakistani players were taken aback by the counter attack.
They could not believe what was happening to them. Javed Miandad’s sixes inflicted such a psychological blow that it was difficult for the Indian team to beat Pakistan in Sharjah. However, every short of Kohli’s 53-ball 82 in Melbourne was as effective as Javed Miyadad’s sixes. Now it remains to be seen what psychological impact this victory has on Pakistan.