The 2014 T20 World Cup will be always remembered for one of the best sportsmanship witnessed in the game.
Virat Kohli was batting sensationally in the tournament and continued his fine form against South Africa in semi-final too. Batting first, South Africa posted a huge total of 172 runs. In reply, India went off to a flying start when Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane added 39 runs inside four overs for the first wicket. But there was still a long way to go and Kohli took the responsibility from there on.
He played a stunning innings of 72 runs off only 44 balls to take India to the finals of the World Cup. But before that, a beautiful incident had happened during towards the end of the match. With two runs needed off the last eight balls, Virat ran for a single which brought skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on strike for the last ball of the 19th over. Given Dhoni’s penchant for hitting the winnings runs, it was expected that the captain will go for the kill But showing a remarkable sportsmanship.
Dhoni presented a dead bat to a chest height short ball, which would have been whacked for a six by him nine out of ten times.
Just like everyone, Kohli was surprised too and was seen saying something to his smiling skipper from the other end. The Delhi batsman then hit the first ball of the final over from fast bowler Dale Steyn for four to cap off a fine batting display.
When Kohli was later asked about the incident, he said:” “He (Dhoni) said he could not give me anything more from this match and he wanted me to hit the winning shot.I had told him, ‘Aap khatam karo (you do it)’, but he told me, ‘Tune acchi batting kari hain, to ye mera gift hain tere liye (you have batted well, take this gift from me).’
I am thankful to him for letting me do that. Hitting the winning runs is always very special.”
Watch the beautiful incident:
Watch the beautiful incident: