Virat Kohli celebrates his century during the ICC Champions Trophy match against Pakistan in Dubai on February 23, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Coming into the Champions Trophy, Virat Kohli was under pressure following a lean 2024. In Tests late last year, his most productive shot, the cover drive, had become his kryptonite as bowlers ruthlessly exploited his weakness outside off-stump and had him caught behind or in the cordon.
Similarly, the former India skipper also looked vulnerable against spinners in white-ball cricket recently and seemed like a pale shadow of the batter who had topped the run charts in the 2023 ODI World Cup. In the opening fixture against Bangladesh, Kohli was tied down by tweakers Rishad Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz before the former dismissed him. It was the sixth straight dismissal to a spinner in ODIs.
However, ahead of the crucial contest against Pakistan, the 36-year-old left no stone unturned to rediscover his mojo. He came in an hour earlier for practice on the eve of the match, mostly working on his game against the spinners. After a break, he took throwdowns at one end of the ground, did the same in the nets towards the end of the session, and was one of the last to leave.
On Sunday, all those efforts bore fruit as he etched his name in the record books to become the fastest to 14,000 one-day runs in his 287th visit to the crease, taking 63 fewer innings than Sachin Tendulkar. And he got there in inimitable style, punching Haris Rauf for the first of his two hits to the fence through covers in that over, which set the tone for his unbeaten century.
Speaking to broadcasters after the game, Kohli sounded relieved to find his rhythm and range again.
“To be honest, it feels good to be able to bat in that manner in an important game to seal qualification and contribute (after) we lost Rohit early,” he said.
While the Delhi batter was far from his best against Pakistan leggie Abrar Ahmed, he was able to see off that phase – thanks largely to partner Shreyas Iyer too – and capitalise later.
“(I) had to put in the understanding of what we learnt in the last game. My job was to control the middle overs against the spinners without taking too many risks. It allowed me to play my usual ODI game,” he added.
On a slow surface where scoring boundaries was progressively harder once the ball became old, rotating the strike was paramount. Kohli was able to tap into his incredible fitness levels to achieve that. While his knock only contained seven hits to the ropes, he scurried through for 13 twos.
“I have a decent understanding of my game; it is about keeping the outside noise away, staying in my space and taking care of my energy levels and thoughts. It is very easy to get pulled into the expectations. My job is to stay in the present and do a job for the team,” said Kohli.
A crucial hundred in a high-profile encounter while closing out the chase should take a huge weight off his shoulders going into a week-long break and allow him to come back fresh for the final week of the competition as India chases its first ICC title in ODIs since the 2013 Champions Trophy triumph in England.
Published – February 24, 2025 08:01 pm IST