Kohli's top 3 T20I knocks vs England

Despite not being widely considered a power hitter, Virat Kohli has proven himself to be among the best T20 international players of all time.

The Delhi-born batter has scored 3297 runs in 90 innings at a godly average of 50.72, which is incredible for a top-order batsman in the T20 format. He’s also proven his mettle by performing in clutch situations for India in the T20 World Cups, bagging two Player of the Tournament awards.

In this article, we shall look at Virat Kohli’s top three T20I innings against England.

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#3) 73* (49), 2nd T20I, Ahmedabad, March 14, 2021

After losing the first T20 by a massive eight wickets on the same ground two days prior to this match, Team India returned with added vigor to get back into the series. Captain Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bowl first, restricting England to just 164-6 in their 20 overs as all the Indian bowlers returned with economical bowling figures.

In reply, India had a shaky start to their innings, with Sam Curran bowling a maiden in the first over of the game, along with dismissing KL Rahul for a duck. From that point on, India never looked out of control as debutant Ishan Kishan took the attack to the bowlers right away and finished with a fantastic 56 off 32 balls before being removed by Adil Rashid.

Between Kishan’s blockbuster attack and Rishabh Pant’s blitzkrieg of 26 runs from 13 balls, Virat Kohli was steadily scoring runs across the park. The star batsman scored almost 25 runs from just the flick shot alone, hitting five boundaries and three sixes in his aggressive 73 runs in just 49 deliveries.

Kohli also ensured that one end was always safe as the youngster could play their natural attacking game while scoring at a strike rate of 149 himself. India won the match by seven wickets with 13 balls to spare as the home side drew the series 1-1 with three games to be played.

#2) 77* (46), 3rd T20I, Ahmedabad, March 16, 2021

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The home side couldn’t keep up the momentum from the previous game as they were asked to bat first by the English team and collapsed to 24-3 inside the powerplay as KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan were all dismissed cheaply.

Although the remaining batsmen never got going either, the skipper, Virat Kohli, stepped up for his part, taking the attack towards the English bowlers and keeping the scorecard moving regardless of his non-strikers.

India were in dire trouble throughout the innings, with Virat Kohli batting on 27 runs off 28 balls and the team struggling at 86-5 in 14.3 overs. The introduction of Hardik Pandya in the fifteenth over helped string up a partnership that would take the home side to a safe total, as Virat Kohli accelerated from 27 (28) to 77 (46), scoring his last 50 runs in just 18 deliveries.

While Pandya, on the other hand, was able to connect his shots, he kept rotating the strike to ensure that a partnership of 70 runs in the last 33 balls helped India set up a total of 157 for the visiting side.

However, this superhuman effort from the Indian captain went in vain as the tourists, led by Jos Buttler’s majestic 83 not out in 52 deliveries, reached victory virtually untroubled with eight wickets and ten balls to spare.

#1) 80* (52), 5th T20I, Ahmedabad, March 20, 2021

With the five-match series level at 2-2, the final T20 in Ahmedabad was set up to be a thriller to decide who takes the bilateral trophy. The home side lost the toss and were asked to bat first.

But unlike previous games, they got off to a flyer. Opener Rohit Sharma scored a rapid 64 off 34 while Virat Kohli rotated the strike and steadied the innings with a 20-ball 22 before the fall of the first wicket at 94 at the end of nine overs.

The skipper ensured that he kept one end of the partnership safe as all the batsmen he was batting with were able to play their shots to their full extent, as Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya all scored at strike rates of over 180.

Kohli himself got to a majestic 80 not out in 52 deliveries at the end of the innings, accelerating sharply in the last six overs like much of the series earlier as the team total reached a strong 224-2 at the end of the allotted twenty overs.

In reply, the English batsmen looked to be sailing towards victory with fifties from Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler, but an economical spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and wickets at regular intervals ensured India got home safe with a 36-run victory.

The win in the final T20 game beat India in the bilateral series, with skipper Virat Kohli taking home the Player of the Series award for his 235 runs across five matches.