A spate of records were broken and created by Virat Kohli, but most importantly, it was yet another match-winning innings in a run chase by the GOAT chase-master as he launched India to the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
His 84-run knock helped India secure a four-wicket win in the semi-final against Australia on Tuesday in Dubai.
Chasing the target of 265 runs, India slipped to 43/2, losing both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. But Kohli and Shreyas Iyer anchored the innings without much fuss in their partnership of 91 (111). While Iyer got out, Kohli remained steadfast and batted with the template that has brought him immense success in run chases for the past 17 years.
He forged partnerships of 44 (52) with Axar Patel and 47 (46) with KL Rahul, who remained not out in the end and hit the winning six, while Hardik Pandya also played a cameo of 28 runs off 24 balls.
Upon receiving yet another Man of the Match award, Kohli alluded to his batting template, saying,
“For me, it is about understanding the basics and preparing my game accordingly… just rotating strike because on this pitch partnerships are the most important thing. My only effort that day and today was to string in enough partnerships.”
IND vs AUS: Virat Kohli says his timing today was the most pleasing for him
Kohli barely broke a sweat in his innings. He offered Australia one chance, which was dropped by Glenn Maxwell. Apart from that, it was a vintage Kohli knock in a run chase. With this, he became the second batsman in ODI history to score over 8000 runs in run chases, and he’s done it at an average of 64.
Kohli said that his timing was the aspect of his innings against Australia that pleased him the most.
He asserted,
“My timing. The composure at the crease. I wasn’t feeling desperate and feeling happy knocking ones around, and when as a batsman you start taking pride in taking singles into the gaps, that is when you know you are playing good cricket and you know you are in for a big partnership. In the game against Pakistan and today, that was the most pleasing factor for me.”
Now that India have qualified for the final, it will be played in Dubai. The second semi-final will be played on Wednesday in Lahore between New Zealand and South Africa.
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