Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar feels Shaheen Afridi may have deliberately bowled wides to Virat Kohli to prevent the star batter from hitting a century in the Champions Trophy 2025 match between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (February 23).
Riding on Kohli’s unbeaten hundred (100 off 111), India chased down the target of 242 with six wickets in hand and 45 deliveries to spare.
When India needed three runs to win, Kohli smashed left-arm spinner Khushdil Shah for a boundary to notch up his three-figure mark.
Earlier, at the end of the 41st over, India required 17 runs to win, while Kohli was 13 runs away from his century. However, Shaheen bowled three wides in the 42nd over, conceding 13 runs.
In the second ball of the 43rd over, Axar Patel took a single to give Kohli the strike, and the Indian stalwart then hit a boundary to reach his 51st ODI hundred.
Shaheen also faced criticism from the capacity Dubai crowd for allegedly trying to deny Kohli his milestone.
"It will always be there because, you know, there's a history between India and Pakistan. And with that history, there will always be a little edge to any contest between the two, regardless of the sport—be it cricket, hockey, or anything else,” Gavaskar said while speaking to India Today.
“No team, especially when they know they won’t win, wants a record set against them—a record of the most centuries, the most five-wicket hauls, or even the lowest runs scored by their own team. These are all records you don’t want against your name.”
“I think the attempt was to bowl a little wider so that Kohli wouldn’t reach 100. Kohli scoring a 90 was acceptable, but Kohli scoring 100 is a big deal—especially against Pakistan. That’s what they didn’t want,” he added.
With this match-winning knock, Virat Kohli became the fastest batter to reach the milestone of 14,000 ODI runs, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
Having booked a spot in the semi-final, India will face New Zealand in their final group-stage match on March 2.
