Virat Kohli is, arguably, the world’s best batsman at the moment. But his credibility to the Indian national cricket team is a lot more than just that of ‘the best batsman of the world’, because in a team like India with the legacy of having some of the world’s most brilliant batsmen, even being the best is not enough. And Virat Kohli does provide more than just that by taking the team to victory on numerous occasions and thus very aptly earning the title of ‘Chaser Master’.
Yes, it is evident in the statistics that there are a lot of matches where Virat made his contribution as the most reliable batsman of the team to stay on the pitch till the victory is achieved. But it is not possible to talk about all those matches in just one article. Therefore, we present to you with the 5 most influential Twenty20 International matches where Virat Kohli shone the brightest as the ‘Chaser Master’ for the Indian cricket team and proved himself worthy of the title.
Importance of Chasing in T20 Cricket
Before digging into those 5 matches, and I will not take long with this discussion, here’s a trivia for you: India has won 53 of the 83 matches chasing down a target and that’s a record in T20 International cricket till October 2023. In the T20 World Cup 2007, West Indies almost got the match in its pocket with Chris Gayle’s century and a total of 205 runs until South Africa decided otherwise and bagged the match home with 14 balls remaining.
A similar scenario was created about a week later when England failed to chase down the target of 218 runs set by India by just 18 runs whereas MS Dhoni’s target was to get a total of somewhere around 200 runs; had he done that much only, he could have lost the match. Both of these happened about 4 years after the T20 format was introduced to international cricket and if you take a look at the statistics since 2012, it can easily be said that the format favors chasers or the team that bats second.
After 2011, in only 4 calendar years, the side batting first managed to win the match. Even in the Indian Premier League (IPL) a similar pattern has been observed. Since the inception of the tournament in 2008, the possibility of winning a match chasing a target down has been much higher than that of defending one. Therefore, the crucial importance of a reliable batsman to chase down a target in T20 cricket matches is immense. This is why Virat’s forte in chasing is so invaluable to his team, be that the national team or the IPL one.
5 Best T20 Chasing Innings of Virat Kohli
So let’s take a look at the 5 best innings by Virat Kohli in T20 International cricket that proved him aptly deserving of the title ‘Chaser Master’. These innings have been selected for this article based on the weight they have on the match and on the team, and in no particular order for that matter. Here those are:
1. India vs Pakistan Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2016: 4th Match
Whenever India and Pakistan face each other in a cricket match- regardless of the format- the game takes place both inside and outside the stadium and the outcome of that match sometimes matters more than the result of the entire tournament. When it comes to the Men’s Asia Cup tournament, the emotions are even more intense and the stakes become even higher. Such was the 4th match of the year 2016 when Pakistan set a target of only 84 runs for India to chase down. Please note, it was not a batting-friendly ground at Mirpur, Dhaka that day.
Now, 84 runs of 20 overs is not at all a fearsome target, in fact, this was supposed to be the easiest win for a team with supposedly the world’s best batting line-up. But you need to remember here that the opposition is also legendary as the supposedly best bowling line-up in the world. Mohammad Amir proved this very fact by sending both of India’s openers- Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane- back to the pavilion, without a single run on the scoreboard, by the 4th ball of the very first over of the chase! He struck for a 3rd time sending Suresh Raina for just 1 run on the 4th ball of his 2nd over. India was down to 8 for 3.
Amir would have had a 4th wicket in that match and would seal the victory for Pakistan had Kohli got out in that LBW that he survived with a very close call. But that was when the responsible chaser inside him took charge and he batted in a very seamless, controlled manner for 71 minutes making 49 runs off 51 balls with 7 boundaries and a strike rate of 96.07. India won the match by 5 wickets.
2. India vs West Indies 2019: 1st Match
This T20i match was yet another testament to Virat Kohli’s caliber in cricket where he scored 94* off 50 balls with 6 boundaries & maximums each and a strike rate of 188.00. What impact did it have on India’s performance? India won the match by 6 wickets chasing down the massive target of 208 runs. This is the summary of the match, but the drama that took place there in front of the entire cricketing world in India’s Hyderabad was way more interesting.
When a target of 208 runs off 20 overs is set, a lot is expected of the hard-hitter openers. In India’s case, it was Rohit Sharma and he failed to live up to the expectations when he left the ground after scoring only 8 runs off 10 balls. India fell under pressure, but the other opener KL Rahul & 3rd batsman Virat Kohli took charge of the responsibility. Take a look at the highlights of that innings here:
The duo made a sustainable partnership hitting boundaries consistently and slowly taking back the grip on the match. Rahul scored 62 runs and was out in the 14th over when India’s score was 130 runs for 2 wickets. India needed 78 runs off 51 balls to win the match. Against the T20 specialist West Indies, anything was possible at the moment. After Rahul, no other batsman could contribute much, and India’s hope was totally lying with Virat Kohil. And he did not disappoint.
3. India vs South Africa T20 World Cup 2014: Semifinal
It was a world cup tournament. It was a semifinal match. It was in Mirpur, Dhaka. South Africa scored 174 runs for 4 wickets with a brilliant half-century by Faf fu Plessis. India was set to chase down a target of 175 runs to reach the final and Dhaka witnessed yet another glorifying moment of cricket essayed by the Chaser Master, Virat Kohli. Moreover, he ended up being the highest run-scorer of the tournament with a total of 319 runs.
The Proteus were very confident of winning the match because until that day they never lost defending a score above 170 runs in a T20i match. Yes, India won that match by 6 wickets and reached the final, but with only 5 balls remaining. Things were going pretty much as planned for the Africans for if you look at the scorecard, India was much behind sans Kohil. Even he scored only 17 runs off the first 16 balls he faced.
But his aggressive yet controlled batting was soon demanded by the team, and so he obliged. He remained not out till the match was sealed for India scoring 72 runs of 44 balls with 5 boundaries and 2 sixes with a strike rate of 163.63.
4. India vs Australia T20 World Cup 2016: 31st Match
In the history of cricket, 2016 will always be remembered as the year of Virat Kohli supremacy. He was at the top of his form as a batsman; although he did not score any century in T20i cricket until 2022, in 2016 he scored 4 test centuries- 3 double centuries making him the 5th player to do so in a single calendar year- and 3 ODI centuries. He became the highest run-scorer of IPL 2016 scoring 973 runs- an IPL record yet to be broken. And, he took team India to the final of the T20 Men’s World Cup 2016.
As part of that last feat, the 31st match of the tournament played a very crucial role. It was against Australia- India’s second nemesis after Pakistan where emotions may not be as high, but India is still to catch up. But this match went in India’s favor when they chased down a target of 161 runs at the cost of 4 wickets with only 5 balls remaining.
Now, 161 runs in 20 overs in a world cup match may not seem to be a daunting challenge to overcome, but when the opposition is Australia, no target is easy. India was in need of 67 runs of 6 overs when the team already lost the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh who scored 13, 12, 10 and 21 runs respectively. And Kohli ended the job justifying his title of Chaser Master by scoring 82* runs off 51 balls with 9 boundaries, 2 maximums and a strike rate of 160.78.
5. India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2022: 1st Match
“I honestly have no words, I have no idea how that happened,“
- Virat Kohli, after beating Pakistan in the inaugural match of Men’s T20 World cup 2022
In a world cup inaugural match between India and Pakistan, the mercury is naturally to remain high, even long after the match ends. With half-centuries by Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed, Pakistan set a target of 160 runs for India to chase down to win the match, at the cost of 8 wickets in 20 overs. In reply, India won the match by 4 wickets with 0 ball remaining, meaning on the very last ball of the match. Imagine the excruciatingly stressful nail-biting moments of that last-ball thriller in the name of a cricket match!
Virat Kohli had to sign in earlier as the 3rd batsman in that match as KL Rahul departed quicker than expected. By 6.1 overs, India managed to collect only 31 runs, losing 3 other wickets of Rohit Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav and Axar Patel. Kohli found himself with the responsibility to lead the chase, yet again. And what a staggeringly brilliant batting performance that was!
Kohli batted for an unfathomable 98 minutes and scored 82* runs off 53 balls with 6 boundaries, 4 sixes and a strike rate of 154.71. He was aptly supported by Hardik Pandya and together they made a very crucial, match-winning partnership of 113 runs till Pandya gave his wicket to a catch by Babar Azam after scoring 40 valuable runs for his team. India reached a point in the match when the team had to score 31 runs from the last 2 overs of the match.
Added to the drama here, they lost 2 wickets in the 20th over itself- Pandya (on 19.1 over) & Kartik (on 19.5 over). As the match continued, Kohli hit 1 much needed maximum in the 19th over by Haris Rauf and then another on the very last ball by Mohammad Nawaz to bring the match to an end and in favor of India. If that doesn’t qualify enough to be called the Chaser Master, nothing else does!
Take a look at that last ball here, where even Kohli’s opposition was in awe of his batting prowess:
After his performance in the Men’s ODI World Cup 2023, Virat Kohli has taken himself to an incredibly high level as a batsman. The expectations of him only grew higher, even though India failed to win the championship. With the IPL and Men’s T20i World Cup 2024 on the calendar, the world of cricket is waiting very eagerly to witness a lot more such mind blowing batting performances from Chaser Master Virat Kohli.
Read more about Virat’s glorious tales:
Virat Kohli’s Unforgettable 133 Not Out: A Masterclass in Chasing
