Virat Kohli's top 5 innings in T20I cricket

Virat Kohli has played many memorable innings for the Indian team over the years. But a dip in his form gave his critics an opportunity to attack him. Though his loyal fans always supported him, the man bore all the burns and gave a fitting reply to his critics with his best performance in one of the most crucial games in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

The 34-year-old has been a stalwart for the Indian team. Whether he scores or does not score, there will always be many hue cries surrounding him. But the man always comes up with spectacular knocks to bring the focus back to cricket. Here are the top five T20 innings played by Virat Kohli.

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5. India vs West Indies 2019 (3rd T20I)

Virat Kohli smashed 70* off 29 balls in Mumbai

Virat Kohli shocked the world with a show of brutal hitting to post a mammoth score of 240 in 20 overs against the Caribbean team in Mumbai. On that day, no bowler was spared from the wrath of the genius. The platform for launching a blistering attack was set by the two openers.

The elegant batter cleared his intentions very early in the innings by clobbering Hayden Walsh for a six off the fifth ball. Jason Holder received similar treatment in the very next over while getting hit for two boundaries and a six.

However, the zenith of his innings came in the 18th over of the innings when Keiron Pollard was taken for the cleaners. Virat hit three sixes and a boundary in that over. He slammed an unbeaten 70 off 29, which ultimately paved the way for them to win by 67 runs.

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4. India vs West Indies 2019 (1st T20I)

Virat slammed 94* off 50

The tone of the T20 series between the Indian team and West Indies was set in the very first match in Hyderabad, where the Indian team chased down a mammoth target of 208 set by the West Indies side.

Virat Kohli started his innings with a very watchful approach, while the Indian team reached 89 in ten overs. Why it was a bad idea to sledge Kohli was very well realized by Kesrick Williams, who triggered Virat, which resulted into a blistering onslaught in the second half of the innings.

Virat Kohli scored 94* from 50 balls with six boundaries as many sixes. Williams suffered the biggest damage as he gave away 60 runs in 3.4 overs.

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3. India vs South Africa- T20 World Cup 2014

India and South Africa met in the 2014 T20 World Cup semi-finals. Prior to that day, South Africa never lost a match after posting 170 or more in the T20Is. When South Africa posted 172, even the staunch critics of South Africa never thought that anyone could prevent the Proteas from reaching the final.

India v South Africa - ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014

But Virat Kohli had other ideas. He scored 17 from his first 16 deliveries before changing gears. Under Kohli's guidance, the Indian team managed to seal the chase with five balls to spare.

Wit ha knock of 72* off 42, Kohli established himself as the chase master in this match by showing the world how to pace innings during a chase.

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2. India vs Australia- T20 World Cup 2016

Virat has the highest number of half-centuries in T20 against Australia

Virat Kohli takes his game a notch higher in every World Cup. In this T20 2016 World Cup game, the batting genius soaked up the pressure, kept his cool and then scored at a lavish rate to guide India to a sensational victory.

Chasing a modest 161 to win, India lost three early wickets. Kohli stitched up a crucial partnership with the injured Yuvraj Singh, who departed when the Indian team accumulated 94 in 14 overs. From there, Team India scored 68 runs in 5.1 overs.

Kohli once again stamped his authority while chasing. He steadied the ship while India lost wickets and remained unbeaten on 82* off 51 to take the Men in Blue to the semi-finals.

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1. India vs Pakistan- T20 World Cup 2022

India v Pakistan - ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Virat Kohli’s best innings in a T20 game came against arch-rivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022. Weathering two seasons of patchy form, the former skipper of Team India made an emphatic comeback.

Chasing a formidable target of 160 set by Pakistan, India lost four wickets early on before Kohli and Hardik Pandya stitched a crucial 113-run partnership together to take India closer to victory. The Indian team saw many ups and downs in the match but the batting maestro did not lose his focus for a moment.

During the chase, the Indian team needed to score 48 runs in their last three overs and Kohli’s gusty shots helped them seal the chase. Virat remained unbeaten on 82* off 53 deliveries, which registered as his best T20I knock to date.