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Axar Patel has expressed how he was doing the ‘maths’ to help Virat Kohli reach his 51st ODI century during India’s win over Pakistan in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli (L) and Axar Patel. (AP Photo)
India all-rounder Axar Patel said he was doing the maths when Virat Kohli was racing against the short target to get to his century on Sunday during the high-octane clash with Pakistan in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Kohli reached his century — a record-extending 51st in ODIs — with a boundary through covers against Khushdil Shah that also sealed India’s six-wicket win. Before that four, he was at 96 and India needed only two runs to win. He had reached that position also because Axar on the other end selflessly took three runs on four balls, instead of trying to finish the match, and let the senior batter have the strike as much as possible.
“At the end, actually main bhi thoda maths kar raha tha unke hundred ke liye (Even I was doing the math for his hundred towards the end). I was hoping that I don’t edge the ball or something. So, it was quite fun,” Axar said in video posted by ICC.
“It was the first time I got to watch a high-pressure game from the dressing room where Virat bhaiya scored a century. I had a lot of fun, and the way he was running between the wickets after fielding for 50 overs is a testament to his fitness,” Axar added.
It was not Axar’s only contribution to India’s win. The left-arm spinner also took the crucial wicket of Pakistani captain Mohammad Rizwan for 46 (77), breaking his 104-run stand with Saud Shakeel. Axar could have also got Shakeel out in the same over if not for a difficult chance drop by Kuldeep Yadav in the deep.
But Kuldeep also made up for it with three wickets — his best performance since coming back from a hernia surgery last year.
“When you return from an injury, it takes some time to get back to full tilt. You find the rhythm only after playing matches. I think he was out for close to 3-4 months, then he played a couple of matches. He was trying hard in practice to find rhythm like before,” Axar said in the same interview.
India will now play their next match against New Zealand on March 2.
