Champions trophy 2025: King of the chase

Virat Kohli said his plan was to attack the pacers and take less risk against the spinners in the high-pressure Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan here on Sunday and having steered the team home with a sparkling hundred his 36-year-old body is happy to get a week-long break before the next game.

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India’s six-wicket win against arch-rivals has almost sealed a semifinal spot for the side and all but knocked the hosts out of the tournament.

Kohli got majority of his runs from running the quick singles and doubles as he collected only seven fours in his 100 not out off 111 balls. “At 36, a week off is very good. It takes a lot out of me to put in that much effort,” said the superstar referring to their last Group A clash against New Zealand on March 2.

He completed his 51st ODI hundred with a four off the last ball of the match. Heading into the high-stakes game, Kohli had his fair share of struggles against the spinners. “It feels good to bat in that manner in an important game, where a spot for semis was there to be taken, after Rohit (Sharma) fell (20 off 15 balls). My job was clear — to control the middle overs, not take risks against spinners and take on pacers. I was happy with the template, it’s how I play in ODIs,” said Kohli at the post-match presentation after scoring his fourth hundred against Pakistan.

Kohli also got to a special milestone in the run chase as he became only the second Indian and third overall to amass 14,000 ODI runs after compatriot Sachin Tendulkar (18,246 runs) and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (14,234 runs).

Kohli created history as he became the quickest batter to the milestone. He completed his 14,000 ODI runs in 287 innings. Tendulkar had taken 350 innings to reach the feat while Sangakkara took 378 outings. Coincidentally, both Kohli and Tendulkar scored their 14,000th ODI run against Pakistan.

The India No. 3 needed only 15 runs on Sunday to reach the milestone, which he did with a four through covers off Haris Rauf in the 13th over of the run chase. He was also the fastest to 13,000 runs, which he had completed in September 2023 against Pakistan in Colombo during the Asia Cup. Kohli already holds the record for scoring most ODI centuries (51), having gone past Tendulkar during the 2023 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand in Mumbai.

When asked about his approach in the innings, Kohli said: “I have a decent understanding of my game. It’s about keeping the outside noise away, take care of my energy levels and thoughts. It’s easy for me to get pulled into expectations and frenzy around games like these (India-Pakistan).”

He also credited Rohit, Shubman Gill (46) and Shreyas Iyer (56) for taking on the pacers on a tricky pitch. “Clarity is important, when there is pace on the ball, you have to get scoring. Shubman and Shreyas have been excellent. Everyone’s got a decent knock in these conditions, that’ll augur well in the coming matches,” he said.

During Pakistan’s innings, Kohli went past former captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of most catches by any Indian fielder when he took his 157th catch in his 299th ODI. Azharuddin had taken 156 catches in 334 ODIs for India between 1985 and 2000.

Kohli took a forward diving catch after running in from long on to dismiss Pakistan’s Naseem Shah off Kuldeep Yadav. He then took his 158th catch when he grabbed his second of the match at deep midwicket to dismiss Khushdil Shah off Harshit Rana.

“I kept telling myself, I’ll give my 100 per cent while fielding. It’s why I take pride in it. When you put your head down and go about your work, things work out,” he said.

It feels good to bat in that manner in an important game, where a spot for semis was there to be taken. My job was clear — to control the middle overs, not take risks against spinners and take on pacers. It’s how I play in ODIs. —Virat Kohli

We started superbly with the ball. We knew wicket could get slower but backed our experienced batters to go out there and get 240. Virat loves representing the country, doing what he does the best, which is what he did today. People sitting inside the dressing room aren’t surprised with what he did. —Rohit Sharma

287 Virat Kohli has become the fastest batter to reach the milestone of 14,000 ODI runs, getting there in his 287th innings. Kohli beat the record of Sachin Tendulkar, who reached the landmark in 350 innings