Virat Kohli recalls what Anushka Sharma told him after special knock against Pakistan before last year's Diwali

Virat Kohli has been back at his personal best since stepping down as the captain of the Indian cricket team in 2021 while Rohit Sharma has step in as his successor. Virat Kohli played many memorable knocks since then but his 82* against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup was etched in the Indian fans' memory forever.

Coming right before last year's Diwali celebrations, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya helped India recover from 31/4 to chase down 160 while Kohli's stunning six-over long-on off pacer Haris Rauf showed the quality that Indian superstar possesses. Virat Kohli recalled the day fondly as his wife and actor Anushka Sharma reminded him what it meant to the entire nation.

virat-kohli-pakistan-t20-world-cup — Virat Kohli (Photo: AP/PTI)

"I feel blessed. I feel very, very blessed. I don't know what I have done to be here. But all I feel is gratitude and I feel very blessed. After this match, the messages I received, those made me very emotional," Virat Kohli told Star Sports.

"Those feelings are very intense and special. So the messages I received that day, one constant thing that people kept telling me is that you don't know what you've done. And I couldn't understand it because I saw what the stadium atmosphere was like, but I didn't see what the mood in the nation was.

"The next day it was Diwali but that also kicked in late after the game. So when I spoke to (wife) Anushka as well, the next day, she said the same thing. Everyone said you don't know how much happiness you've given to everyone. Everyone's just going crazy on Diwali and people are just so happy.

"Like everyone just said the same thing, like we got to experience so much happiness at the same time on a festival that's so dear to everyone. It's that combination that is very, very rare. You know, that comes by and for that, I felt so much gratitude. From 20 year olds to 55, 60 year olds sending me messages of the same emotion was something that I can never forget in my life. Never ever."