India’s Virat Kohli hits winning runs during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo)
Virat Kohli’s century powered India to a famous six-wicket victory in the group stage of the Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Kohli also broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record for being the fastest batter to go past 14,000 runs. It must be mentioned that he’s also the fastest past the 9,000, 10,000, 11,000, 12,000 and 13,000-run marks.
The 36-year-old is only the third batter to do so after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.
After the win over Pakistan, Team India now have a full week’s break till they face New Zealand on Sunday in their final group A game in Dubai.
Asked about having a week’s break, Kohli grinned and said: “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.”
READ MORE: 14,000, 82nd, and 158, numbers from record-breaking match of Virat Kohli against Pakistan
Talking about his innings against Pakistan, Kohli said: “To be honest, it feels good to be able to bat in that manner in an important game to seal qualification. It 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.
India’s Virat Kohli celebrates his fifty runs during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
“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 (Shah Afridi), 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.”
