‘Don’t think any other player can hit 6s like this’: Haris Rauf on Virat Kohli’s match-winning knock vs Pakistan

India and Pakistan rekindled their on-field rivalry in the 2022 T20 World Cup, playing their opening encounter on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The contest is remembered primarily for Virat Kohli’s heroics. With an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls, the former India captain single-handedly won the game for the Men in Blue.

Kohli’s two back-to-back sixes off Haris Rauf in the 19th over changed the game and shifted momentum in India’s favour. Rauf was bowling at a breakneck pace, and Kohli needed something special to knock him over the ropes.

Rauf said that no one other than Kohli could have struck him for those sixes. Speaking to Crickwick, the right-arm pacer said that those sixes would have hurt him if Dinesh Karthik or Hardik Pandya had hit him.

“The way he played in the World Cup, that is his class, we all know the types of shots he plays. And the way he hit those sixes, I don’t think any other player can hit a shot like that off my bowling. If Dinesh Karthik or Hardik Pandya would’ve hit those sixes, I would’ve been hurting but those came off Kohli’s bat and he is a different class altogether,” Rauf told Crickwick.

Haris Rauf on Virat Kohli’s sixes against him is the best thing you’ll hear on internet today pic.twitter.com/67IlV5tuCo

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The two sixes were crucial, as India needed 16 runs off the final six balls. India won the 2022 T20 World Cup courtesy to some extras from Mohammad Nawaz.

The Rohit Sharma-led side had a forgettable tournament, losing to South Africa in their second match. They then defeated Zimbabwe and the Netherlands before losing by a large margin of 10 wickets to England in the semi-finals.

READ| ‘If Dinesh Karthik or Hardik Pandya hit those..’: Harris Rauf reveals emotions after getting hit by Virat Kohli