Virat Kohli handled the defeat with so much grace, I admire his sportsman spirit: Sana Mir

Former Pakistan women’s skipper Sana Mir lauded Virat Kohli for his sportsman spirit and the “grace” with which he handled the defeat against Pakistan, who downed them by 10 wickets in Dubai on October 24 to end their 12-match losing streak in World Cups. The instance was also the first when India suffered a 10-wicket defeat in T20I history, whereas Pakistan also won by the margin for the first time.

“Virat Kohli handled the defeat with so much grace and I admire his sportsman’s spirit, it’s really good to see the top athletes, who are role models, behaving in the way he did,” Mir wrote in her column for the ICC’s official website.

“It shows a lot of security within, and it means they have a lot of confidence to bounce back so I won’t be surprised if India bounces back very quickly and in a big fashion and I hope we can see Pakistan and India play each other again in this tournament.”

Pakistan outplayed us: Virat Kohli

After the team’s loss, Kohli candidly accepted defeat while hailing Pakistan as the better team on the night.

“They [Pakistan] definitely outplayed us. There’s no doubt about that. You don’t win by ten wickets if you don’t outplay the opposition. We didn’t even get any chances – they were very professional and you definitely have to give them credit. We tried our best and we tried to create enough pressure on them, but they had the answers. There is no shame in accepting that a team played better than you,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mir also lauded Babar Azam for staying “level-headed” after the victory and stated that Pakistan have “definitely become one of the favourites for the tournament”.

“…it was heartening to see Babar and Shaheen not get carried away when in front of the media, they were focused on the next games,” she said. “It is a great sign that they are staying level-headed and shows the team is going in the right direction,” she added.

Pakistan next face New Zealand on October 26. “New Zealand has a very good side with a lot of skill and a great captain in Kane Williamson so it will be a very important match…” Mir wrote.