Virat's 82-run knock will stay as role model innings in T20I: Greg

Sydney: He goes for golfing if he has the time and opportunity to keep his mind fresh. He stays busy at home with a new born grandchild. Hastily uprooted from his home in Brisbane, he decided to live in his childhood hometown of Adelaide for the rest of his life, Greg Chappell hasn't changed much.

Speaking to Millennium Post on Wednesday, Ian Chappell's brother showed great enthusiasm in Virat Kohli.

Greg Chappell: I watched a fantastic match sitting at home. There was great excitement right from the first ball. Arshdeep Singh dismissed Babar Azam in his first World Cup match. Indian bowlers indeed bowled well.

That means you didn't go to Melbourne to watch the India-Pak match on October 23!

Greg: No bro, at this age it is not possible to fly to the field in Australia and watch the game. Time is also short. I can say one thing: watching matches on TV is much more fun. One can analyze the match very well; you can correct your reaction by watching the replay and it's very good, actually.

What would you say about Virat Kohli's innings?

Greg: It was a gem of an innings. I am not saying because he scored the most number of runs by an individual in the match. Not even for his 113-run partnership with Hardik Pandiya. Virat actually played a brilliant innings with purely cricketing shots. And he showed how to play a T20 match and an ideal pattern of a T20 batting.

We have to admit that his innings was tough as the team failed to gather runs for a long periods of time.

Greg: Oh, yeah. I don't know how he could keep so calm and steady like this. This is the hallmark of a big player. In the end, Virat was able to calculate on his own how he could lead the team to victory. If you don't have a lot of confidence, you can't bat like that under pressure.

Two sixes off Harris Rauf?

Greg: That's what I'm talking about. Virat may have hit sixes in two balls in-a-row. But in that moment of pressure, picking up 12 runs in 2 balls was a sign of greatness. That's why I am saying again and again that he created a model in this regard as to how to bat in T20 cricket. And the MCG was mesmerised by his batting. I really enjoyed Virat's batting that day.

Tell something about the partnership with Hardik?

Greg: Very good. That partnership was important for India. But Hardik was out while slogging. Virat was unmoved there. And what I like most was Virat tried to shape the innings with proper cricketing strokes.