Not just Virat's but India's best-ever T20 knock: Rohit Sharma

India captain Rohit Sharma didnt bat an eyelid before declaring Virat Kohlis 82 here on Sunday as not only his best but the most accomplished knock played in the countrys T20 historyKohli has had his issues with form but his skipper didnt count himself among the Doubting Thomases who had termed him well past his sellbydateYeah I think it has to go definitely his best for sure but I think from the situation we were in and to come out with a victory I think it has to be one of Indias best knocks not just his best knock Rohit told mediapersons after Indias T20 World Cup win against PakistanHe explained why he rated this innings as Indias No 1 T20 knockBecause until the 13th over needing close to 100 runs we were so behind in the game and the required rate was just climbing up and up But to come out and chase that score was an extremely brilliant effort from Virat and then obviously Hardik Pandya played a role there as well the skipper didnt forget to praise his allrounderAlso read My best knock ever in T20Is am lost for words Kohli after win against PakBoth Kohli and Pandya are veterans of many close T20 contests which they had pulled off under pressure at the international as well as IPL levelI thought both of them because these guys have played under pressure so many games for us so they knew exactly how to handle that kind of situation and they did pretty well in that situation the skipper saidWhile most of the cricket fans questioned whether Kohlis ability to win big games was on the wane Rohit has been consistent that it was never the caseSpeaking about Virat I honestly dont think he was struggling with form or anything He was batting as good as he was but with him the expectations are always so high that even if he gets a good 30 or 40 people tend to talk about it Rohit reiterated the need to temper down expectations at timesAs a part of the team management Rohit never felt the need to put pressure on KohliFrom the team managements perspective I thought he was in good space right from the Asia Cup where he got a month off and then he came back to Asia Cup He was fresh got a brilliant hundred there got a couple of fifties if Im not wrongAnd then leading up to the World Cup we know the quality that he has and hes done so well in these type of conditions in all three forms All about using experience Kohli had pulled off a similarly incredible chase six years ago in Mohali during a knockout T20 World Cup game against AustraliaObviously he Kohli used his experience today more than anything else staying calm under pressure and we know how good he is when the score is in front of him Hes one of the best chasers in the worldI thought that partnership between both of these guys the hundredrun partnership was a gamechanging moment Flicked six off Rauf made us believe we can do it What had floored Rohit was how the duo KohliPandya planned their 113run stand But when Haris Rauf was hit for two sixes the skipper believed that they could just win this oneIt was probably one of the best Ive witnessed in a partnership and then obviously Virat was brilliant Those two successive sixes off Haris Rauf I wont call it the turning point but would definitely say this is where the game actually came towards us a little bit he addedWe always knew there was one over of spin bowling So inside the dressing room we were thinking if we can keep about 15 to 18 runs in the last over the guy is going to be under pressure to bowl that last overHe bowled that last over against us in Asia Cup and Hardik played some shots against him Rohit said he knew that once Mohammed Nawaz was hit for two sixes in his first over he wont be given a ball But as things panned out the pacers finished their quota of overs and Babar Azam was forced to use his leftarm spinnerObviously its not easy when you have to bowl the last over being a spinner and only 15 or 18 runs to defend Its not easy Pressure is a twoway street for skipper Everyone was talking about the pressure under which Pandya and Kohli were while batting but since these two were there in the middle the Indian skipper felt that even the Pakistan bowlers were under the pumpIt sometimes plays both ways The pressure is always on the bowler I believe in that type of situation Yeah I think we held our own pretty well in the last three overs That was good to watchThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever