India's nail-biting win over Pakistan, powered by a stunning unbeaten knock of 82 from the talismanic Virat Kohli, led to a flood of memes on the internet. Almost all major social networks, including Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook were full of reactions from fans, with several of them posting, gifs and memes after Ravichandran Ashwin hit the winning runs on the last ball of the match to secure the Indian team's victory in front of nearly a 100 thousand fans at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/HaramiParindey/status/1584151483679150081

Earlier, the Men in Blue restricted Babar Azam and his men to 159/8 following left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh's heroics at the start of Pakistan's innings. Arshdeep Singh was outstanding with the new ball, sending both the Pakistani openers back in quick succession inside the first four overs. While he got the big wicket of Babar Azam on his first delivery in the second over,  Mohammad Rizwan was his second scalp, bouncing him out in the deep.

Needing 160 to win, India was in all sorts of problems at 4/31 in the 7th over and was in more trouble when the score read 45/4 after the conclusion of the 10th over.

However, Virat Kohli had other ideas as he combined with Hardik Pandya to stitch together a stand of 113 runs to bring India back into the contest.

After Hardik Pandya perished in the 20th over with India still needing 16 off the last 5 balls, Kohli steered them to a 4-wicket triumph.

Virat Kohli's phenomenal innings of 82 not out off 53 balls was laden with six gorgeous shots to the fence and four powerful hits for sixes.

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Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, RCB, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Indian Premier League,

Pawan Atri ·

Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, RCB, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Indian Premier League,

Pawan Atri ·

Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, RCB, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Indian Premier League,

Pawan Atri ·

After the match, Virat Kohli called his innings against Pakistan the best he has ever batted in the shortest version of the sport.

“Well, it is a surreal atmosphere. I honestly do not have any words, I don't know how it happened. Hardik kept telling me that just believe, stay till the end. Honestly, I am lost for words. Well, I think when Shaheen bowled from the pavilion end, that's when I spoke to Virat that we need to take him down and that's when the conversation happened, where he said Nawaz has to bowl one over. He said that if I can take Haris Rauf down, then they will panic because he is their prime bowler. Well, I was kind of pumping myself up to hit those two sixes. It was 28 off 8 and it became 16 off 6 so I am lost for words,” an emotional Virat Kohli said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“It is just instinctively, I saw the ball and told myself to stay still and see the ball. I swung my bat through the line of the ball and I hit six over fine leg. Standing here, it feels like it was meant to be. It is a very special moment,” he added.

“Well, till today I have said that Mohali (2016 T20 World Cup) innings against Australia is my best. I got 82 off 52 there and today I got 82 off 53. But I think, today, I will count this one higher because of the magnitude of the game and what the situation was. It seemed impossible, but Hardik kept pushing me in that partnership and we just went deep and it just happened,” the premier India batter elaborated.

Meanwhile, India captain Rohit Sharma rated Virat Kohli's scintillating innings against Pakistan at the MCG as his best knock ever in T20Is.

“Hardik and Virat have played number of games for India. Taking the game deep was very critical. It was good for our confidence, always nice to get off the mark in your first game. And, the way we won is more pleasing to us. We were in no position to get that target, but hats off to Virat, it has to be his best innings that he has played for India,” Rohit Sharma said after India's victory on Sunday.

“We always wanting to stay in the game as long as possible, that was the message and that was the idea. You have to back yourself no matter what the situation is and that is what happened. That crucial partnership between Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, 100-run stand was the game-changing moment. The pitch had something, there was some carry and I thought our bowlers utilised really well. That was good to see from bowling perspective. I think Pakistan batted well in the middle phase of the game, once the first half of the innings was over, we knew it would not be an easy chase for us,” the India skipper explained.