Virat Kohli in action
Credit: Reuters Photo
Dubai: For Virat Kohli, making One-Day International centuries had become second nature for five years, between the end of 2014 and 2019. In a throwback to that glorious run when he was an unstoppable force, especially while chasing a target, the former skipper produced a special innings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Up against him on Sunday night in the Champions Trophy were familiar foes Pakistan, who have been at the receiving end of many a Kohli masterpiece in the past. A sense of déjà vu must have descended on Mohammad Rizwan and his men when the right-hander blazed to a 51st ODI century, his first in the format since November 2023.
From the time he offered a dead bat to his first ball from the slippery Naseem Shah, Kohli was in complete control, making what was a slightly two-paced surface appear like a shirtfront.
The common factor in successive stands of 69 for the second wicket with Shubman Gill and 114 for the next with Shreyas Iyer, Kohli brought up a six-wicket victory and his own personal landmark with a seventh four of an innings of intelligence and industry, where quick running between the wickets and judicious placement of the ball brought him greater reward than sparkling strokeplay which too wasn’t at a premium.
India lost a 12th successive ODI toss when Rohit Sharma called wrong, prompting Mohammad Rizwan to bat first. Pakistan didn’t have a great deal to show apart from an opening stand of 41 between Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq and a stabilizing 104-run third-wicket alliance between Saud Shakeel and the captain, though their 241 was hardly trifling.
Bangladesh had defended 13 runs fewer with great alacrity on Thursday, but Pakistan didn’t have the same slow-bowling resources apart from Abrar Ahmed.
Their hopes had largely revolved around quicks Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem and Haris Rauf and even though Afridi dismissed Rohit with a lovely inswinging yorker after the skipper had struck a few breezy boundaries, the pace trio hardly held any threats for India’s top order.
Gill took on Afridi with a series of lovely drives down the ground, creamy and showing the full face of the bat to the bowler, while Kohli was content to work the gaps until Rauf pitched one in his half and he put him through wide mid-off for his first four of the night that took him past 14,000 ODI runs in quicker time than his two predecessors in that club, Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.
That indicated that Kohli was in the mood; that he was also in the mood to play the senior statesman was apparent when he guided Iyer through a testing early period after a lovely Abrar carrom ball accounted for Gill.
The second-wicket stand had set things nicely up for Iyer, who could afford to take his time. From 17 off 33, he shifted gears and took on the dominant role while Kohli’s desire to bat through the innings and stay till the end was all too evident. Iyer fell with victory imminent, but alongside Kohli, he had all but sealed the deal.
Pakistan seemed to have set themselves up for a final flourish when they reached 151 for two in the 34th over with Shakeel and Rizwan well set, but both were dismissed in the space of ten deliveries to set the cat among the pigeons. India weren’t at their disciplined best – the tempo was set by Mohammed Shami who started the contest with five wide balls in the first over – but did enough by chipping away at the wickets.
Hearteningly from their point of view, left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav showed great rhythm with three late wickets; Kohli and the rest of the batting group have now all but put the team in the last four. All in all, a night to savour for the men in blue.