There was no place to hide the face, Virat Kohli had openly mocked the speed of this Pakistani bowler!
Abdul Qadir was a great Pakistani spinner, whose balls Sachin Tendulkar had once hit sixes on and he had said that he would never forget them till his grave. 2 years ago, Virat Kohli had also hit an amazing six against Pakistan's Haris Rauf, after seeing which everyone's eyes were wide open. Kohli's shot started being discussed in the corridors of world cricket. This was bound to happen because Haris Rauf was proud of his speed. But after that shot of Kohli, his speed had become a joke.
You must be wondering why we are talking about Virat Kohli's six against Haris Rauf 2 years ago on 23rd October. That is because that day was also the 23rd of October when Kohli wrote a historic script of his unmatched shot while attacking Rauf's speed in the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan was proud of Haris Rauf, but Virat got angry!
In the 2022 T20 World Cup played on Australian soil, India and Pakistan had a match in Melbourne on 23 October. Before this great match was held at MCG, one of the biggest grounds in the world, Pakistan had created a lot of uproar about the speed of Haris Rauf. Many cricket pundits were also assuming that Pakistan had the upper hand in the match. In their view, Haris Rauf's pace is Pakistan's important weapon to destroy the Indian batting order. But, after what happened then, not only did all the speculations change but Haris Rauf was also seen hiding his face.
When the top order fell apart, Virat anchored the order!
In the match, Pakistan batted first and scored 159 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs. In response, the Indian team, which came out to chase the target of 160 runs, had a bad start. Both its openers Rohit and Rahul were out after scoring 4 runs each. With 2 big wickets falling for just 10 runs, the situation started looking bad and it seemed that Pakistan would do exactly what it was saying. But, they say that when the matter is big, Virat Kohli stands up. The same was seen in this match as well.
Virat Kohli's historic six against Haris Rauf
Virat Kohli held one end and did not get out until Team India won. He scored an unbeaten 82 runs in 53 balls, which included 6 fours and 4 sixes. One of those 4 sixes was the six that he hit with the back of the hand while standing against Haris Rauf. And, the six that ICC declared as the shot of the century.
That six by Virat Kohli was going to open the eyes, ears, and nose of Pakistan. It was going to shatter the pride of Haris Rauf who was maintaining his speed. Regarding that shot, Haris Rauf later said that only Virat Kohli can hit like that, no one else.