Virat Kohli fell short of his 52nd ODI hundred during India’s 265-run chase against Australia in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on Tuesday. Kohli fell for 84 runs.
This would have been the second hundred for Virat Kohli in this edition of the Champions Trophy, on the back of his unbeaten 100 against Pakistan on February 23.
Virat Kohli could have reached his hundred comfortably with India only 40 away from victory with plenty of balls left. KL Rahul, the batter at the other end, was scoring over a run-a-ball and as Kohli walked back after falling to Adam Zampa, Rahul told his friend: “Mein maar raha thaa” (I was hitting out).
Back in November 2023, Virat Kohli had hit a hundred in the semifinal of the ODI World Cup, which was also his 50th in one-day internationals. This would have been icing on the cake – a hundred in a successful run chase against Australia, the only team which has broken India’s hearts multiple times in ICC tournaments.
Redemption for Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli went through a slump in form but still made noteable contributions with a match-winning half-century in the final of the T20 World Cup final against South Africa in 2024 and a solid century in India’s only victory on their other otherwise dismal Border Gavaskar Trophy tour in Australia.
Virat Kohli came to Dubai with a few question marks for sure. He played only two of the three ODIs against England and hit a half-century in the final match and then fell cheaply in India’s first match agaist Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy.
Fifty for the chase master!
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However, Kohli silenced his critics with one of the most composed hundreds in recent memory to help India trounce Pakistan in their second match and he looked good for another impressive knock in his 300th ODI before his stay was cut short by a stunning catch by New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips.
On Tuesday, Virat Kohli came out to bat after India lost the in-form Shubman Gill cheaply. Rohit Sharma departed after a cameo and the onus was once again on Kohli to drop anchor. The former India captain stitched steady partnerships with Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and KL Rahul to steer India close to their target. Kohli also became the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to hit 8000 ODI runs batting second.
Virat Kohli was in stunning form during the 2023 ODI World Cup where he smashed long-standing records to finish the tournament with 765 runs. A year and a half later, the chase master worked up some magic again to potentially finish top of the run-scoring charts in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
