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Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 100 to help India claim an authoritative six-wicket win over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.
Champions Trophy 2025: India’s Virat Kohli against Pakistan (AP)
Virat Kohli said was happy with his match-winning knock as his 51st hundred with an unbeaten 100 to help India beat Pakistan by 6 wickets at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday that virtually knocked the hosts out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Kohli’s unbeaten 100 helped the star Indian batter to become only the third man to make 14,000 runs in one-day internationals.
“It was a good innings for me personally and as you said it was a great team win. I was able to bat the way I wanted to bat and to contribute in a winning cause in an important game obviously feels great so yeah it was imperative that we get stuck in and get this win to be able to qualify,” Kohli said in a video posted by ICC on social media.
“One thing that I’ve always thought of batting at three is to minimise risk and make sure that I put my team in a winning position and if you have a chance to finish off the game in a chase obviously that’s much better and I always preferred that kind of a situation,” he added.
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With runs running out, Kohli slammed Khushdil Shah on what turned out the last ball of the match for a boundary to bring up his hundred. He took off his helmet and raised his bat to a standing ovation from the crowd that chanted his name.
“My role over the years has remained the same. Whatever the demands of the game, I put my head down and try to do that. The occasion is always a bit more lively when you play against Pakistan, especially in this region because you have equal number of fans from both countries. And yeah, it was a great day for us as a team and for me personally as well,” Kohli said.
Kohli entered the match with 13,985 runs in 298 ODIs and went past 14,000 runs with a flowing punch through the covers off pace bowler Haris Rauf.
Opening up on his cover drive, Kohli said: “It’s a catch 22, I mean it’s kind of been my kind of weakness as well over the years but I’ve scored a lot of runs on that shot. I think today was just about backing my shots and I think the first couple of boundaries I got were cover drives on the rise so I really had to just let it go a little bit and take a bit of risk and follow through with my shots because when I hit those kind of shots then I feel in control when I bat out there.”
(With inputs from Agencies)
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
