Virat Kohli, the ultimate master of chasing targets in one-day formats, illuminated yet again the world of white-ball cricket with his unconquered desire for extra runs. Especially since he picked himself up from the ashes of a pretty non-descript form for a memorable hundred against Pakistan, the archrivals in the ICC Champions Trophy.
The Dubai International Stadium came alive witnessing Virat Kohli mastering the art of run-chases where a procession of records was rewritten, leading him to surpass Ricky Ponting as the third-highest run-scorer in international cricket and to chalk up a stupendous 14,000 ODI runs.
As the Virat Kohli show all but knocked out Pakistan from the ICC Champions Trophy, even fans from the other side of the border stood up and took notice of a world-beating performance. In the early hours of Monday, Kohli’s majestic display had even taken over the Pakistan media.
Geo News: ‘Kohli stars as Pakistan lose high-stakes Champions Trophy clash against India’.
Dawn: ‘Champions Trophy: Virat Does a Kohli, Powers India to easy win over Pakistan’.
The Express Tribute: “Champions Trophy: India outclass Pakistan, potentially eliminating the defending champions”.
ARY News: India outclass Pakistan in one-sided Champions Trophy clash
A sigh of relief was heard by everyone present, both in the stadium and watching on TV, at the sight of the ‘King’ finally making some time on the crease and stamping his authority when he felt settled with his signature shots. This felt like a much-needed bounce-back for Virat, who had been struggling to give himself time on the crease now for quite a long time, nay months, in all formats.
For most of 2024, when he found himself barely scoring, he was putting in a lot of effort trying to unsettle the bowlers and when it didn’t work for him, his frustration showed.
Virat, many times, threw his wicket away either with an outrageous, uncharacteristic shot (during T20 World Cup) or succumbed to technical imperfections: 1). Chasing loose deliveries outside-off-stump with absolute carelessness 2). Getting beaten out by spin bowling.
Another statistic surfaces now saying he either fishes or famines; it’s feast and famine for him.
CricViz data and analysis-providing platform claims that since 2022, sloppy almost 30 balls in his ODI innings almost cost a failure to the batting prowess of Virat Kohli; since then, he has maintained an average concerning these balls: 38.1 average with a strike rate of 82-whereas straight after-when somehow or other he manages to emerge therefrom-this average and strike rate increase exponentially in the view of his legendary stature to an average of 87.4 with strike rate 102 in the next 60balls onward!! Now, we all know this adages says that if he scores early he will either perish cheaply or else seal big!”
Since 2022, as per ESPN Cricinfo, Virat has become the sixth-highest run-getter in ODIs, scoring 1,916 runs in 45 matches and 42 innings at an average of 53.22 and a strike rate of 94.99. He achieved eight centuries and 11 fifties, with 166* being his highest score.
Five ‘Player of the Match’ awards earned by Virat against Pakistan at ICC tournaments, as per Cricbuzz: 78* (T20 World Cup 2012), 107 (ICC Cricket World Cup 2015), 55* (T20 World Cup 2016), 82* (T20 World Cup 2022), and 100* (Champions Trophy 2025). No other player has more than three Player of the Match awards against any opponent in ICC tournaments.
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