Even across the border, Virat Kohli was the talk of the town as India almost eliminated Pakistan from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli, the maestro of one-day chases, overcame a sluggish run of form to make a spectacular century against arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy, reminding everyone once again of his supremacy in white-ball cricket and his unquenchable need for runs. A masterpiece in run-chasing took place at Dubai International Stadium, where virat Kohli broke many records, passed Ricky Ponting to become the third-highest run-scorer in international cricket, and reached 14,000 ODI runs.
Even spectators across the border rose up and took note of a world-beating performance as Virat Kohli’s effort almost eliminated Pakistan from the ICC Champions Trophy. Even the Pakistani media was captivated by Kohli’s magnificent performance as the sun rose on Monday morning.
Following Virat Kohli’s knockout blow over the Champions Trophy hosts, the Pakistani media responded as follows:
Geo News: “Pakistan loses crucial Champions Trophy match against India as Kohli stars.”
‘Champions Trophy: Virat Does a Kohli, Powers India to Easy Win over Pakistan’, Dawn said.
The tribute from The Express: “Champions Trophy: India outclass Pakistan, potentially eliminating the defending champions” .
India defeats Pakistan in a lopsided Champions Trophy match, according to ARY News
The ‘King’ eventually putting some time on it and stamping his dominance when he felt relaxed with his hallmark shots would have undoubtedly caused a huge sigh of relief for those in attendance live and watching on TV. Regardless of the sport’s structure, Virat has been finding it difficult to allow himself time on the crease for a while before this.
Virat would attempt to attack the bowlers early in his mainly poor 2024 season and become irate when he was unable to make good contact with the ball. Frequently, Virat would lose his wicket due to his technical problems or to an utterly careless and unVirat shot (during the T20 World Cup): 1. Carelessly prodding outside-off-stump deliveries 2. dying in the face of spin bowling.
There is nothing in between Virat feasting and starvation, according to an intriguing statistic that has surfaced.
Virat has struggled in the first 30 balls of his ODI innings since 2022, according to CricViz, a website that provides cricket data and analytics. He averages 38.1 and hits at 82 in this phase. However, Virat’s average and strike rate rise in a manner worthy of his legendary reputation when he manages to escape this phase. After his first 30 balls, he averages 87.4 then hits 102 in his following 60 balls!
There is only one conclusion to that: either Virat leaves cheaply or he is primed for a massive score.
Virat has amassed 1,916 runs in 45 games and 42 innings at an average of 53.22 and a strike rate of 94.99, making him the sixth-highest run scorer in ODIs since 2022, according to ESPNCricinfo. With the highest score of 166*, he has amassed eight hundreds and eleven fifties.
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Virat has also won five ICC tournament “Player of the Match” honors against Pakistan, according to Cricbuzz: 78* (during the 2012 T20 World Cup), 107 (during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup), 55* (during the 2016 T20 World Cup), 82* (during the 2022 T20 World Cup), and 100* (during the 2025 Champions Trophy). In ICC competitions, no other player has earned Player of the Match more than three times against the same opponent.
