Virat Kohli who is currently going through a rough patch will face the Pakistani bowling line up in India's clash against their arch-rivals in the 15th edition of the Asia Cup .This edition of Asia cup will be played in T20 format keeping the 2022 World Cup in mind which is scheduled to start in October 2022.
Let's take a look at Virat Kohli's stats against Pakistan in T20Is.
Matches played - 7
Runs scored - 311
Average - 77.75
50's - 3
Highest Score - 78
He has failed against Pakistan in T20Is on just two occasions. Both those failures came in the same series and this was the only bilateral T20I series played between these two arch-rivals since Kohli's debut. The series was drawn 1-1.
1) Scored 9 runs at Bengaluru in 2012
2) Scored 27 at Ahmedabad in 2012
Keeping this series aside, Virat faced the bowling line up of Pakistan 5 times and all these games were in multi-nation tournaments. Pakistan vs India always creates a lot hype and if they are up against each other in a multi-nation tournament then it's always a game to not miss for the cricket fans.
When the 2012 World Cup started in Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli was just 11 T20Is old. After winning their first two games comfortably against Afghanistan and England respectively, India were cruising towards semifinal but a 9 wicket loss against the Aussies made things complicated for India and their next game against Pakistan became a do or die game. India were given the target of 129 to chase in 20 overs. The target wasn't that big but Pakistan were undefeated until then and were high on confidence. Their bowlers in the form of S Afridi, S Ajmal, U Gul and Y Arafat were also in great form. India lost Gautam Gambhir for the score of 1 and out walked Virat Kohli, who had a big responsibility that day. Kohli started his innings with a four and kept the scoreboard running with singles, doubles and timely boundaries. Once he got to his 50, he accelerated the innings and India completed the chase in 17th over itself.
During 2014 T20 World Cup, Pakistan batted first and posted a total of 130 runs on board after playing out their quota of scheduled 20 overs. In response, India looked comfortable during their chase and Virat Kohli's unbeaten 36(32) ensured that India go over the line with ease in the 19th over.
In 2016 before the start of T20 World Cup, Asia Cup was held. For the first time since its inception, the tournament was played in T20 format. It was scheduled to be played in T20 format so that teams can have good practice and challenge before the all important T20 World Cup. Dhoni lead Indian team decided to take the field after winning the toss and what followed next was unexpected, Pakistan team got bundled out for just 83 runs on board, everyone thought the game was over but the fiery spell of M Amir left India In concern with just 8 runs on board and 3 pins down. M Amir was breathing fire that day and it was almost impossible to play him. After 6 overs, Virat was on 6*(15) and the next over was to be bowled by M Amir. Kohli instead of taking single took the charge against M Amir and smashed him for consecutive boundaries. He then smashed Irfan and Wahab for a few boundaries in successive overs, from 6(15) he reached 29(29) and put all the pressure back to Pakistan. He scored 49(51) in the game and was judged out on a ball which was missing the stumps which costed him a well deserved fifty. He was adjusted the 'Man of the Match' for his brilliant knock.
In 2016 T20 World Cup, India were the hosts. They lost their first game by 47 runs as they got all for just 79 runs chasing a target of 127. Their next game was against their arch-rivals Pakistan and it was a do or die game. Like previous instances India was fielding first, Pakistan posted 119 runs target to chase in 18 overs(2 overs were reduced due to rain). Rohit's early departure resulted in Kohli's entry to the crease when the score was 14/1 after 2.1 overs, this is when India then lost a couple of wickets in succession in the 5th over of the match and they were now 3 down for 23 on board and it appeared that Pakistan was way too ahead at that point. Kohli was playing on 1(2) at this point and he along with Yuvraj Singh stitched a 61 run partnership to bring India back into the game. Kohli scored 55*(37) with the the strike rate of 149. Kohli in his prime was another level player as we all know, the next best strike in that Indian innings was 104 (min. 10 balls faced). He not only used to score consistently but did so with better strike rate and even better impact.
In the 2021 T20 World Cup, India and Pakistan faced each other for first time in the T20 format since the 2016 T20 world Cup. For the first since 2007 India were batting first, Rohit fell on the first ball to give Pakistan an advantage and an over later KL Rahul got out to same bowler. India were struggling at 6/2 when in-form Suryakumar Yadav joined Virat Kohli in the middle. Virat wasn't in the best of form but still managed to score a 49-ball 57 against an in-form bowling line up and helped India post a respectable total on board. India lost for the first time in a World Cup game against Pakistan as they managed to chase the target of 152 without any loss.
Overall, Virat played 5 games against Pakistan in multi-nation tournaments and he is yet to fail against them even once.
Games played - 5
Runs scored - 275
Highest - 78*
Average - 137.50
Fifties - 3
It will be interesting to see if Kohli can continue his dominantion over Pakistan or not. India lost against Pakistan for the first time in a World Cup game under Virat's leadership last year and he left the captaincy to focus on his batting but he never gained back his old touch and he's still in search of it. He has also crossed 1000 days without an international century and is going through the worst phase of his career with people even raising questions over his place in the T20I team now. He's never seen such lows in his career and now it's high time for him to raise the bar again by scoring runs for fun.
