Gambhir’s bold choice of Virat Kohli’s iconic knock vs PAK as best-ever ODI innings by an Indian: ‘Guys have score 200s’

It was a must-win encounter in Asia Cup 2012 at Dhaka, and a young Kohli took a big step towards becoming the chase master in white-ball cricket. Chasing a 330-run target, India lost opener Gambhir for a duck. In spite of losing the first wicket on a score of nought, India still had two of the best batsmen of all time in the middle – Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

Tendulkar played the anchor role while Kohli was on full fire in Dhaka. He scored his highest individual score—183 runs in just 148 balls—and Tendulkar had an excellent partnership of 133 runs for the second wicket. India won the match by six wickets and eliminated Pakistan from the Asia Cup.

Gambhir, head coach of the Indian cricket team, in a chat with Kohli in a video posted by BCCI, talked about the rise of the star Indian batter and rated his 183-run knock as the best he has ever seen in ODIs.

“I saw you make your debut, play that very important knock in the Champions Trophy in South Africa on a tricky wicket against the West Indies, and then playing probably the best one-day innings that has been played by an Indian batter, and I have said this before. Not purely from a point of view because guys have scored double hundreds as well. It is the best innings I have ever seen because of the quality of the opposition, the conditions, chasing 300-plus against Pakistan,” Gambhir said in a video released by BCCI.

‘You’ve left a legacy’

Gambhir reserved massive praise for Kohli for leaving a great legacy he has left for the next generation of players.

“You’ve done some really special things. Most importantly for me, how you have taken Indian cricket forward is probably the legacy you have left for the next generation,” he added.