India vs South Africa T20 2022: Virat Kohli misses half-century, then fans noticed his signal to Dinesh Karthik — Watch Video

Virat Kohli gestures to Dinesh Karthik to keep hitting big and not worry about giving him the strike Pic: Screengrab from Twitter/BCCI

Runs flow when Virat Kohli hits a purple patch. With 71 international hundreds to his name, he's tied with former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, and only behind legend Sachin Tendulkar in the list of most tons. But unlike so many other players who let such personal milestones dictate their approach towards the game and the pace at which they play, Kohli doesn't let numbers affect his decisions on the field.

Fans witnessed this facet of Kohli's game during the second T20 between India and South Africa on Sunday. When the final over of the Indian innings began, Kohli was at the non-striker end on 49, alongside 'designated finisher' Dinesh Karthik, who was batting on a personal score of 1.

Karthik was facing the pace of Kagiso Rabada. Karthik missed the first delivery, then slog-swept the next for a boundary. He then missed the third delivery, which was followed by a dot (wide), and finally a six. With four legal balls bowled, Karthik had amassed 11 runs (0-4-0-wide-6).

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With two deliveries left the batsmen met mid-pitch to fist bump. This is where one of the most-talked about incident of the match (barring the snake), happened. Visuals showed Karthik seemingly asking Kohli if he wanted to take a single, get on strike for the last delivery and take a shot at completing his half-century. Instead, Kohli dismissively waved his hand at Karthik, asking the finisher to end the innings on a flourish. Karthik smashed a six off the penultimate delivery, and ran a bye off the last ball of the Indian innings.

In addition to the run fest, a special moment as we sign off from Guwahati. #TeamIndia | #INDvSA | @imVkohli | @DineshKarthik pic.twitter.com/SwNGX57Qkc

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 2, 2022

All four of India's top-four batsmen came to the party on Sunday to post a formidable 237 for 3 in the stipulated 20 overs — their highest score against South Africa. Chasing a massive target of 238, the South Africans fell 16 runs short and finished at 221 for 3 in their 20 overs with David Miller remaining not out on 106 off 47 balls.

This was the first ever series win for India over South Africa in the T20I format on home soil. India had won the first match of the series by eight wickets on September 28. The third and final match of the series is scheduled to be played in Indore on October 4.

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