Some encounters in the world of cricket are truly phenomenal. A match happening in a limited period of time, or even a brief moment in a match can have long lasting memories for the fans of the game. Some chases are remembered, some great shots are remembered, while on some occasions great performances of individuals carrying the team to victory single handedly in high pressure game are remembered. On 23rd October, 2022 what happened was a combination of all the 3 mentioned above, leaving unforgettable memories for cricket fans globally.

The encounter between India and Pakistan is always a special one for the fans. But when it happened at the MCG in 2022 World Cup, it lit up the cricketing world like no other encounter did. A match thrilling to the core, witnessed a great chase, one of the greatest knocks and a range of some spectacular shots at the most popular cricketing venue in the most high pressure match. It was probably the only match when the winning team was extremely happy, but the losing team was not sad to see the result, as they adored the King who supremely reigned his throne. It was one of the rarest occasions when the entire cricketing world came together and admired what Virat had pulled off.

In one of the most memorable matches of all time in the history of T20s, India had to face arch rivals Pakistan in their inaugural game of 2022 World Cup. And knowing the hype and the aura which surrounds the match, it was scheduled at the most prestigious stadiums in the Australia. Melbourne Cricket Ground was set to host a whopping 90000 people who would witness the game live. And Men in Blue, who are usually the favourites in the encounter between the two, were on the backfoot owing to the humiliation they faced by Babar's men in 2021 T20 world cup, and series of matches in Asia cup.

They had the daunting task to bat against the same attack of 2021, which consisted Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah. And further they had needed to break the opening partnership of Pakistan, which had led their team to an unbeaten victory by 10 wickets in Dubai an year ago. And the challenge was accepted by the team. Winning the toss, India chose to bowl. A young Arshdeep Singh took the responsibility of breaking the opening pair, as he sent Babar back on golden duck, shortly before dismissing Rizwan in his spell. Indian bowlers looked good, but Shaan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed did help them to get to a good total of 159 runs.

160 was not a very difficult total, however the Pak bowling trio made it look way too difficult for Indian batters. They pierced into the Indian batting line-up, which was soon reduced to 4 wickets down for just 31 runs. While Kohli was still on the crease along with Pandya, the country was hopeful, but they were running short of time. They took some time to calm their nerves, as India reeled back with 45/4 in 10 overs. The duo had to make 115 runs in 10 overs, which looked unlikely to happen. The win predictor said 85% chance of a victory to Pakistan and only 15% chance for India. And what followed was witnessed by the cricketing world for even less than 1% of the times.

The duo started extending their arms slowly and steadily. And as they continued to do so, the blue jerseys in the stands started to show up, unlike the previous half when they were lying low. Hopes of the victory were going up with every run, and so was the asking run rate. Little optimistic, Indians still knew that the game was far from a victory, with 48 required off the last 3 overs. That's when Virat unleashed his prowess. Slamming a whopping 17 runs in Shaheen's over, he matched up to the asking run rate. And then came the most successful bowler of that day, Haris Rauf, who gave away just 3 runs in the first 4 deliveries. The contest was perfectly set up to see who emerges as winners, with 28 required off 8 deliveries when King was on strike, with the bowler being Rauf.

When the best face the best, world witnesses something spectacular. And exactly the same happened. With match slipping out of India's grip, Virat pulled off a marvellous shot which the world has never seen, and will probably never do. With a do or die like situation for India, Rauf bowled a perfect bouncer right on the head. Virat, who had anticipated the short ball, quickly went to his leg side, transferred the weight on his back foot as he hit the bouncer, with a straight bat for the a long six, to be forever remembered in the history of the game. Not even for a moment it looked like the ball will be going for a six, but it did.

It's unbelievable to witness any batter transferring the weight on the backfoot, and hitting the ball for a straight six. Never ever the world has seen someone hit a bouncer off a straight bat. But the timing on that shot was so sublime, that the brief moment between wood and leather would go on to be called the best shot of all time. That shot defied basics of the game. And Virat followed that shot by yet another crazy shot, with just a flick off the wrist, without any foot movement, going for a six on a slow cutter bowled to him. These two shots not only brought India back into the game, but also decimated the confidence of Men in Green. What's staggering to know is Virat did it to the bowler, who was the most experienced player to play at MCG amongst the 22 guys playing on that day.

Only a champion could have done that, and who better than the best batter in the modern era. In spite of these shots, he knew the match is yet to be won, and he took his team to a great position where he could now just watch from the non stickers end. He utilised the rules to score runs, and they waited on the non stickers end. The drama continued when Karthik was dismissed, and leaving Ashwin to do the remaining job. That's when Ravichandran Ashwin held his nerves to go away and let the ball go for a wide. That cleverness at that point could've just gone wrong, had the ball hit his pad. Fortunately, it didn't and Ash did the honours to finish the thrilling game of cricket.

And when he did, he ran to Virat, and so did the entire Indian dressing room. Skipper Rohit Sharma, who is known for his calm celebrations, ran towards Virat and lifted him in ecstacy. That day, Rohit lifted Virat, and Virat lifted the burden of billion expectations to pull a miracle in cricket. Virat showed what kind of champion he is, and he proved all his haters wrong. The match will always be remembered by cricket fans, especially of India. and Pakistan team, but more importantly it will be remembered for the shot he played to Haris Rauf. The world has never seen anything of that sort before, and we doubt to see it happen again anytime from anyone.