Virat Kohli scored his record 51st ODI century as he led India to a 6-wicket win over Pakistan in their clash in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 that was played in Dubai on February 23, 2025.
Pakistan had batted first after winning the toss, and thanks to Saud Shakeel’s 62, Mohammad Rizwan (46) and Khushdil Shah (38) put on 241 runs on the board. For India, Kuldeep Yadav with 3 wickets, and Hardik Pandya with 2 wickets were the standout bowlers.
In reply, Rohit Sharma was bowled by Shaheen Afridi for 20 runs and a well-set Shubman Gill was cleaned up by Abrar Ahmed. Then Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer added 114 runs for the third wicket before Iyer fell for 56 runs.
Kohli continued on to score 100* in 111 balls with 7 fours and hit a boundary to complete his century and also win the match for India with 45 balls remaining. India achieved the target with 6 wickets in hand and has more or less qualified for the semis.
Kohli celebrated his century in a grand manner and even calmed down the dressing room with an ‘I’m here’ gesture to his team.
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Virat Kohli was also given the Player of the Match and he said that he was happy to contribute to the Indian team and that he had clarity on how to play in this pressure chase.
“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, 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, towards the end Shreyas accelerated and I got a few boundaries as well. It allowed me to play my usual ODI game. 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,” Kohli said after receiving the Player of the Match.
Kohli further praised his teammates Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer for giving him the time to construct his game in the middle.
“Very easy to get pulled into the expectations. My job is to stay in the present and do a job for the team. My keynotes to myself are to put my 100% every ball in the field, and then God eventually rewards you. 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,” he said.
India will play their next match against New Zealand on March 2, also in Dubai.
“To be honest, at 36, it feels really good. Will put my feet up for a few days as it takes a lot out of me to put that kind of effort into every game,” Kohli signed off.
