How often do we see in an intense India-Pakistan clash where one player walks up to another to congratulate him for performing exceedingly well? Virat Kohli actually did that and revealed it during the presentation ceremony. Pick of the tweets: Asia Cup 2016, India vs Pakistan, 4th T20I at Mirpur
“I would like to congratulate Mohammad Amir for the way he bowled; I actually congratulated him while he was bowling. It was amazing to play such a spell,” said Kohli to Rameez Raja while receiving the Man-of-the-Match award.
After bowling out Pakistan for 83, India were reduced to 8 for 3 in the third over by Amir. It was Kohli’s brilliantly measured 49 that saw India home. Last month, Amir made a comeback to international cricket after a long hiatus of five years. Only a teenager back then, he was banned from cricket for his role in the infamous spot-fixing scandal at Lord’s which rocked the sport. Also Read: Virat Kohli pleased with Mohammad Amir’s comeback; praises his courage
Despite Amir’s good form in domestic cricket in 2014, many around the world objected his return to international cricket. His own national teammates and countrymen raised objection; the list included Rameez, the person who was interviewing Kohli today in the post-match ceremony. Kohli went on to call him a world-class performer and expressed his glee for the left-armer’s successful return. The Indian batting star wished him all the luck for future.
Earlier this week, Amir found some support in Kohli as well, which many of his own countrymen deprived him of. Kohli had said, “I am happy to see Amir back, it’s good to see that he has realised his mistake, learnt from it and rectified himself. I have always believed that he is a world-class bowler and had he been around for the five years that he was banned, he would have certainly been a top three bowlers in the world. He has a lot of talent, has got pace, bounce and a very good yorker.”
Admitting Amir’s courage to accept his mistake and stage a comeback, he had added, “I wish him all the best. He has worked hard to make a comeback and it takes courage to do what he did.”
On Saturday, Amir ended up with figures of 4-0-18-3. He had almost done the job but could not conquer the indomitable Kohli. The above picture is a moment after the match when Kohli caught up with Amir and both congratulated each other for their spirited show. READ: Twitterati hail Mohammad Amir for his spirited spell
Certainly, an off-field moment that his great game longs for.
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