Australia and New Zealand will take on each other in the first match of the Super 12 round of the 20-20 World Cup on Sunday at Sydney Cricket Ground. The four teams that have qualified for the Super 12 round are Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, India will kick-start their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday at Melbourne Cricket Stadium. India are coming into this game on the back of a 6-wicket win over Australia in the warm-up game. On the other hand, Pakistan suffered a defeat at the hands of England in their warm-up clash.
India’s batting has been their strength in the shortest format over the last couple of years. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Dinesh Karthik are in supreme form. Besides, Virat Kohli’s return to form is the biggest positive from team India’s point of view.
He broke his century drought with his maiden ton in T20Is against Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2022. Kohli scored 19 runs in 13 deliveries in the warm-up encounter against Australia and looks in solid touch. He is practising hard in the nets to make a substantial contribution for India and help the team win their second 20-20 World Cup trophy.
Meanwhile, a video of him while practicing in the nets has been surfacing on social media. During the practice session, he calmly requested his fans to not make noise while he is batting as it causes distraction.
You can watch the video here:
During the practice Virat Kohli calmly said something like this to the fans .@imVkohli 👑 pic.twitter.com/3X5LnNTQsV
— Hemant Singh (@Hemant18327) October 20, 2022
It is worth mentioning that Virat Kohli is India’s second-highest run-getter at the 20-20 World Cup. In 21 matches, he has 845 runs at an average of 76.81.
After the match against Pakistan, India will be taking on the Netherlands on 27th October, followed by the match against South Africa on 30th October. The Men in Blue's last two matches in the Super 12s will be played against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe on the 2nd and 6th of November 2022.