In their opening encounter of the 2022 t20 world cup on sunday at the melbourne Cricket Ground, india defeated pakistan by 4 wickets as virat kohli scored an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls and hardik pandya shone with both bat and ball (3 for 30 and 40). This triumph occurred 364 days after Pakistan's 10 wicket victory over india in dubai at the previous t20 World Cup. The only thing that connected these two games was a half-century by Virat Kohli.

However, Kohli's 49-ball 57 in dubai had merely contributed to India's decent total. On sunday, Kohli's outstanding performance enabled india to pull off the victory. Yes, that was a suspenseful story. It came down to india needing 2 off 1 ball after needing 16 off the final 6 balls. When india needed one off the final delivery and Mohammad Nawaz produced a wide down the leg-side, R Ashwin lofted Nawaz off the infield to give india the victory.

India's pursuit of 161 had a bad start. KL Iftikhar ahmed made a fantastic grab at slip as rohit sharma was out to Haris Rauf. rahul pulled one on from Naseem Shah to fall for 4 off 8 balls. At 31 for 3, india entered the powerplay as Suryakumar Yadav, Rauf's second victim, was taken out. Suryakumar was giving off a threatening vibe with two perfectly timed boundaries, so this was a blow.

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