New Delhi: Indian star batsman Virat Kohli, who smashed a sublime half-century to power his side to the semifinals of the ongoing World T20, has received a flurry of praises from the cricket fraternity.
The in-form batting mainstay continued to reprise his role as Australia’s tormentor-in-chief as he smacked nine fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 82-run knock off just 51 balls to steer the hosts to victory with five balls to spare.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur took to Twitter to applaud Kohli for his match-winning contribution.
“Great effort @imVkohli. You’ve shown a great temperament. All the best Team India for semis. @BCCI,” Thakur tweeted.
Kohli’s team mate Yuvraj Singh, who also contributed significant 21 in his side’s chase of 161 runs, said, “Well what can I say! There are players who r in form and there is @imVkohli who wins you games again and again ! Hats of you beauty.”
Admitting that Kohli had displayed a `class` performance, former Australian skipper Michael Clarke congratulated Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side for their emphatic victory.
“Great victory! Treat to watch your innings virat @imVkohli. #Class,” Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, former England skipper Michael Vaughan also praised the 27-year-old, saying that Kohli was the greatest judge of a chase he had ever seen.
Describing Kohli as a `cricketing genius`, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell tweeted, “Well… That innings was a different level…Not a lot more to say really…Absolutely shattered. Beaten by 1 cricketing genius. #toogood.”
Earlier, chasing a challenging target of 161, India top-order batsmen once again failed to click as they were reeling at 49-3 at 7.4 overs before Kohli engineered two crucial partnerships with Yuvraj (21) and Dhoni (18 not out).
With the win, India have set up a semifinal showdown against West Indies which will be played on Thursday at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. (ANI)