Virat Kohli was once again the leading figure in India’s successful run chase against Pakistan. The stage, this time, was Dubai Cricket Stadium and the tournament was Champions Trophy. While the venue and competition changed, what didn’t change were the stakes and Kohli’s ability to rise to the occasion.
Kohli lived up to his reputation of ‘Chase Master’ by delivering a knock for the ages, sealing a six-wicket victory for India.
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Despite using everything at their disposal, Pakistan couldn’t usurp Kohli who singlehandedly carried India to the finish line. With the defeat, Pakistan moved to be on the verge of elimination from the tournament.
During his century, Kohli also completed 14,000 ODI runs, quickest to the mark.
After the match, Player of the Match Kohli explained his approach to the knock. “To be honest, it feels good to be able to bat in that manner in an important game to seal qualification. Feels good to contribute in a game where we lost Rohit (Sharma) early, had to put in the understanding of what we learnt in the last game.
“My job was to control the middle overs against the spinners without taking too many risks, towards the end Shreyas (Iyer) accelerated and I got a few boundaries as well. It allowed me to play my usual ODI game. I have a decent understanding of my game, it is about keeping the outside noise away, staying in my space and taking care of my energy levels and thoughts. Very easy to get pulled into the expectations. My job is to stay in the present and do a job for the team. My keynotes to myself are to put my 100% every ball in the field, and then God eventually rewards you.
“Having clarity is important, it was important to understand that you need to get runs when there is pace on the ball, otherwise the spinners can dictate things. Shubman (Gill) did well against Shaheen, took him up. There’s a reason he’s the number one batter of the world. It was necessary to get about 60-70 runs in the powerplay, or we’d always be chasing the game. And there Shreyas is really coming into his own at number 4. Did well in India, and now out here as well,” he added.
With two wins in two and progression to the semi-finals all but assured, India have a week off before they face New Zealand on March 2 (Sunday).
“To be honest, at 36, it feels really good. Will put my feet up for a few days as it takes a lot out of me to put that kind of effort into every game,” he stated.
