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Virat Kohli roared back into form and smashed a fine hundred against Pakistan to help India win their second game in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025. He remained unbeaten on 100 as India hunted down 242 with ease to almost seal a spot in the semi-finals.
The former India skipper was going through a lull in the recent past and he was getting out in a similar fashion repeatedly. Kohli was dismissed by leg-spin in five out of his last six ODI knocks. Post the 2023 World Cup, he was struggling against the spinners. It was evident in the series against England and the first game of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh.
However, he battled through those issues and produced a classic Kohli century in a run-chase. He was awarded the player of the match for his knock and admitted that it felt good to contribute to the team’s win. He revealed that he was happy with his batting template in ODI cricket.
“To be honest, it feels good to be able to bat in that manner in an important game to seal qualification. Feels good to contribute in a game where we lost Rohit early, and had to put in the understanding of what we learnt in the last game. My job was pretty clear: to control the middle overs, to try and go after the seam bowlers, and not take too many risks against the spinners, but keep rotating strike. And once we strung in a nice partnership, then towards the end, Shreyas [Iyer] accelerated and I got a few boundaries away as well. It was more or less the way I play ODI cricket, so I was happy with the template,” Virat Kohli was quoted saying in the post-match presentation.
Kohli all praise for Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer
Chasing 242, India lost skipper Rohit Sharma in the fifth over. But Shubman Gill took over the attacking role and really got stuck into Shaheen Shah Afridi, hitting him for five fours across two overs after Rohit’s dismissal. That allowed Kohli to settle into his innings and play freely at the other end. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has made No. 4 his own and has been batting beautifully. He has made crucial contributions in the middle-order and got 56 in this game against Pakistan.
Hence, the India No. 3 was all praise for Gill and Iyer. He feels both of them are batting superbly and they have played vital roles in India’s victories.
“Having clarity is important, it was important to understand that you need to get runs when there is pace on the ball, otherwise the spinners can dictate things. Shubman did well against Shaheen, took him up. There’s a reason he’s the number one batter of the world. It was necessary to get about 60-70 runs in the powerplay, or we’d always be chasing the game. And there Shreyas is really coming into his own at number 4. Did well in India, and now out here as well,” Kohli added.
India have now won both their games in the Champions Trophy and are almost through to the semi-finals. They have been highly consistent in ICC tournaments in the last few years and are already looking like one of the teams to beat this time around as well.
