Sunil Gavaskar’s ‘Virat Kohli’ Reminder To Pakistan: Why Melbourne 2022 Still Shapes This Rivalry

Sunil Gavaskar didn’t need many words to set the tone. On the morning of the Asia Cup clash, the India legend pointed Pakistan back to Melbourne 2022, when Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 82 off 53 turned a lost chase into a national memory. Gavaskar’s point was blunt: with Kohli retired from T20Is, Pakistan’s bowlers will “breathe a lot easier” not having to face the most feared finisher of this era in this specific rivalry. But the subtext cuts both ways—India’s batting today is deep, flexible, and comfortable in chaos, built to win phases even without the master of the last act.

The Melbourne template that lingers

That night at the MCG has become shorthand: 31 for 4; a 113-run rescue with Hardik Pandya; then two impossible sixes off Haris Rauf that bent physics and probability. It wasn’t only the shots—it was the sequencing, the calm while the roof caved in, and the reading of a chase that was slipping away. Pakistan won’t forget how one man reshaped 20 overs in four balls. Gavaskar’s reminder lands because it was more than a win; it was a wound that time and tape don’t fully seal.

No Kohli, no comfort

Gavaskar’s “breathing easier” is honest, not dismissive. Bowlers plan differently when the batter at the end refuses panic. Kohli’s presence used to drag games toward the last over on his terms, forcing even good lengths to look ordinary under pressure. Without him, the psychology at the death changes. But relief isn’t reassurance. India’s current top six can spread pressure earlier and wider, turning one-big-innings dependence into many-small-knives.

India’s batting, now

• Shubman Gill brings powerplay composure and a controlled range through the V.

• Suryakumar Yadav is still the game’s most elastic T20 batter, with lap, loft, and late cuts that ignore field presets.

• Tilak Varma is a left-hander built for spin control in overs 7–15.

• Sanju Samson can float: disrupt spin if early wickets fall, or add top-spin pace late.

• Abhishek Sharma, now a top-ranked T20I batter, accelerates early and punishes pace-off angles.

• Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube close—one with method, one with brute force—while Axar Patel ensures the chain doesn’t break.

The outcome is not a single anchor but a system: role clarity, matchup ruthlessness, and the confidence to change gears without losing shape.

Pakistan’s plan—and the memory they carry

Pakistan will try to win the middle: Nawaz’s angle skidding into right-handers, Abrar’s wrist spin teasing the slog-sweep, and pace-off across a two-paced square. In the powerplay, they’ll hunt Gill’s edge with a left-armer and test Abhishek’s bat path with hard length into the hip. The Melbourne echo matters because it changes what “enough” feels like—targets that looked safe can feel short, and wickets that felt won can feel incomplete.

Why Gavaskar’s nudge matters

The best mind games are factual. Gavaskar didn’t manufacture needle; he resurrected a scar. It frames the night’s psychology without making it personal. It also challenges India’s new order: don’t just inherit the shirt, inherit the composure. The Kohli standard—calm hands at 12 off 4, clean reads at 45 off 18—has to become a team behaviour, not a single-player legend.

What decides this game

• The first 12 balls: India must read carry and pace quickly. If it’s skiddy, use the square; if it grips, get deep and protect wickets.

• Overs 7–15: India vs spin, Pakistan vs Kuldeep’s dip and Varun’s mystery. Dot-ball pressure vs controlled release shots.

• Fielding: stop the twos. Save eight to ten “invisible” runs and most T20s bend your way.

• Death over discipline: fewer wides, fewer slot balls; take the boundary and live with the single.

The last word

Kohli’s MCG night is a permanent chapter in this rivalry’s book. Gavaskar knows it, Pakistan feels it, and India’s current side must use it as a standard, not a crutch. If the game tightens late, the question is less “Who is Kohli?” and more “Who goes full Kohli?” The answer, today, can come from more than one bat. That’s the real evolution—and the reminder Pakistan won’t like any better.