During the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final between India and Australia at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, Virat Kohli reached a notable fielding achievement.
The significant moment occurred when Kohli caught Josh Inglis in the 27th over, a straightforward catch that proved to be historically important.
The Australian wicketkeeper-batter attempted to play Ravindra Jadeja’s delivery off the back foot but sent it directly to Kohli at cover, resulting in India’s fourth wicket.
This catch held special significance as it enabled Kohli to surpass Rahul Dravid’s record of 334 catches by an Indian outfielder in international cricket across all formats. Kohli accomplished this milestone in his 549th international match.
Most catches as a fielder in international cricket
- 440 –
Mahela Jayawardene - 364 –
Ricky Ponting - 351 – Ross Taylor
- 338 – Jacques Kallis
- 336 – Virat Kohli
- 334 – Rahul Dravid
Kohli has also surpassed Ricky Ponting’s record for most catches by a fielder in One Day Internationals. Kohli, 36, displayed his fielding prowess by taking two catches as Australia were dismissed for 264 runs.
With 161 catches in 301 matches, Kohli now holds the second position in the all-time list of most catches by a fielder in ODIs, behind Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene who has 218 catches.
Ponting with 160 catches now occupies the third position, followed by former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin with 156 catches.
Most catches as a fielder in ODIs
- 218 – Mahela Jayawardene
- 161 – Virat Kohli
- 160 – Ricky Ponting
- 156 – Mohammad Azharuddin
- 142 – Ross Taylor
Kohli equaled Ponting’s record when he caught Josh Inglis. He then broke the record by catching Nathan Ellis in the 49th over.
Ellis, who had hit a six on the previous ball, attempted another big shot towards long-on. Kohli positioned himself and completed an easy catch.
Australia’s innings was anchored by Steve Smith’s 73 runs and Alex Carey’s 61 runs. Smith’s innings ended when Shami dismissed him, while Carey was run out by Shreyas Iyer’s direct hit.
Shami led India’s bowling attack with figures of 3/48. Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets each, conceding 49 and 40 runs respectively.
Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya contributed with one wicket each to the Indian bowling effort.
