India vs Pakistan: The blitz by Virat Kohli is no surprise to India, says Rohit Sharma

There is one more group-stage match left for India before the semi-final arrives, and hopefully, the final in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. However, a rush of elation has already swept the nation after the second group-stage match, the much-hyped India vs Pakistan encounter. Barring a phase in the opening innings after Rizwan opted to bat first, Pakistan never looked in contention for a victory against their arch-rivals. Someone might question, why such widespread celebration if India was already the dominant side? The reason is the century by the "King" of Indian fans, Virat Kohli, who has a famous vein for picking on Pakistan. A batter otherwise haplessly struggling to score lately, Kohli once again chose Pakistan as the team against whom to script his brilliance.

India vs Pakistan: Virat Kohli reached the much-awaited 82nd as Rohit Sharma lauds his team mate

The match, which started as a showdown of the greatest rivalry, swiftly turned into a Virat Kohli spectacle. Stunned into a collapse by the Indian spin contingent, Pakistan could only manage a 241-run total while batting first in Dubai. The chase was a matter of how long the Indian batting lineup, consisting of the in-form skipper and vice-captain, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, would take to complete it. After some satiating strokes, Rohit Sharma departed early to a scathing seamer by Shaheen Afridi. Next came in Virat Kohli, and the show kickstarted. While anticipated, it came as a sweet surprise when Virat Kohli tuned back into the league of runs, just as he met Pakistan.

Shubman Gill looked in fine touch, gearing up for yet another half-century before he fell into a spin trap set by Abrar Ahmed at the score of 46. While Shaheen and Abrar managed to stun the in-form opening duo, the rest of the Pakistani bowling attack had no questions to pose to Virat Kohli. Building a match-winning partnership with Shreyas Iyer, Kohli swiftly cruised to his half-century. Iyer complemented him well with a well-paced fifty of his own. The partnership of over 100 runs between Kohli and Iyer was all India needed to make the final push against Pakistan. From there onwards, it became a race between Kohli’s ton and the runs required for India to claim their second victory in the ICC Champions Trophy.

The chase for his 82nd international ton witnessed Shaheen Afridi throwing a wide, only to be booed by the Dubai crowd. Moreover, boundaries from the bats of Iyer and Hardik Pandya before they walked off only heightened the tension among Indian fans, while Kohli remained nonchalant. Finally, as Axar Patel got the strike with India needing just three runs to win, the all-rounder softly pushed a delivery safely into the hands of the fielder, merely to rotate the strike. With India needing two to win and Kohli requiring four for his century, the chase master accomplished both with a boundary off Khushdil Shah, much to the delight of all of India.

While the victory was a long-stated fact, the India vs Pakistan encounter remained a thriller right till the conclusion, all thanks to Virat Kohli. India has almost secured a semi-final spot, marking the ICC Champions Trophy as a likable tournament so far. Happy faces from the Indian dressing room rushed onto the ground to congratulate Virat Kohli as he charged up to his 51st ODI ton. From a batting slump to bashing Pakistan in an ICC event, arguably the most cherished scene for any Indian fan repeated itself on Sunday.

However, as expressed later by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, Kohli’s brilliance was not a surprise. Very few counted on Pakistan to avoid Virat’s excellence. However, those who anticipated a century off Kohli’s bat in the midst of his slump were equally few. But Rohit Sharma reiterated that Kohli’s abilities are no surprise to anyone, especially in the Indian dressing room. With India sitting comfortably in the marquee event, the elated skipper showered praises on his longtime team mate.

“Virat Kohli loves representing India. More importantly, he wants to be out there playing for the team, doing what he does the best, which is to go out there and do what he did today,” said Rohit. “Over the years we’ve seen him do it. People sitting inside the dressing room are not surprised by what he has done. It was good for him to see the game off,” the Indian skipper added.