India vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy 2025: It was a vintage Virat Kohli who Pakistan had to deal with in Dubai during their Champions Trophy match against India, and the 36-year-old batted them out of the game with his 51st ODI century. Kohli paced his innings perfectly and helped India chase down a target of 242 with six wickets and 45 balls to spare. The contest boiled down to whether he could get his century before India completed their chase, but Kohli did both, hitting the winning runs with a four and finishing unbeaten on 100 off 111 balls.
The wickets came a bit too late for Pakistan, as, despite Shreyas Iyer’s departure, India were always on course to register a win. Shaheen Afridi bowled a few wides which made it tricky for Virat Kohli to get to his 51st ODI century before India finish off the chase.
Kohli celebrated 14,000 runs in ODI cricket to anchor India’s chase of 242 against Pakistan in Dubai, and in the process, became the fastest Indian batter to reach the milestone, going past the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. More importantly, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer put on a century partnership to ensure India didn’t stumble after Shubman Gill’s dismissal.
Gill’s carnage was ended by Abrar Ahmed, who produced a ball that pitched on middle-leg and crashed onto the top of the off stump. Gill’s assault on Shaheen Afridi wiped the happiness of Rohit Sharma’s wicket off the face of Pakistan bowlers. Pakistan had their moment. Gill hit the ball to Khushdil Shah at mid-wicket, but he made an absolute meal of it. Shaheen buried his face, while Haris Rauf held his head. Mohammad Rizwan couldn’t believe it either. India rolling along nicely with Gill after Rohit Sharma was out for 20.
Pakistan went through several ebbs and flow in the game to be bowled out for 241 inside 50 overs against India in Dubai. After losing two wickets in 10 overs, Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel added a century partnership. They struggled initially but got the job done, breaking the shackles timely. However, just when Pakistan seemed to be wrestling back control, the collective efforts of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya derailed their progress. Had it not been for Khushdil Shah’s 39, even 200 looked tough for Pakistan. Kuldeep was the best Indian bowler on show, picking 3/40, and Hardik returning figures of 2/31 in 8 overs.
Virat Kohli completed the 157th catch of his ODI career, thus becoming India’s most successful catcher in the format. India gave nothing away since Kuldeep dismissed Salman Agha and Shaheen Afridi to be placed on a hat-trick. Axar, Hardik and Jadeja collectively chipped in to add to Pakistan’s woes as the defending champions lost Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel and Tayyab Tahir in a space of three overs. Harshit Rana dropped Rizwan on 44, letting go of a golden opportunity for India to break the partnership. But the Men in Blue didn’t need to wait longer though, as Axar cleaned up the Pakistan captain in the very next over.
After losing Babar Azam after a promising start and then Imam-ul-Haq to a fabulous direct hit from Axar, Pakistan desperately needed a partnership, and Rizwan and Shakeel provided exactly that. After a long period of being stuck, Rizwan and Shakeel found their flow, scoring a flurry of boundaries before India broke through. The Pakistan innings was gaining some serious steam, with Shakeel raising his 4th ODI half-century. Rizwan had also picked up pace, nearing a fifty of his own.
With time running out, Rizwan and Saud finally cut loose. After almost 50 balls without a boundary, Pakistan have hit four in three overs to get going in this partnership of 50-plus. This happened after the boundaries dried up, and dot balls increased. Rizwan had played almost 50 balls with a strike rate of 40.91 and Shakeel was not better. Their approach had left broadcasters and commentators baffled as India continue to speed through overs, tying down Pakistan’s run-rate.
Rohit Sharma had gone off the field briefly, and in his absence, Shubman Gill had taken over as India captain. And boy, what a job he did. It took Pakistan 32 balls to score their first boundary since the last one, a testament to how tight Axar and Hardik bowled. Earlier, India endured an injury scare when Mohammed Shami bowled just 2 overs before the India pacer complained of pain in his leg. After the physio took a good look at him, Shami completed the over but left the field to get some treatment. This was after he opened the proceedings for India with an 11-ball over, giving away 5 wides.
Article source: hindustantimes.com
