India vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy 2025: Kohli’s 51st ODI Century came at the right time to lead India to Victory
3 min read
In yet another chapter of the biggest cricket rivalry of India vs Pakistan, Virat Kohli proved again why he is counted on the list of greatest of all times. He scored a not-out 100 runs off 111 balls to take India once again to a six-wicket win over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025. The chase of 242 runs target went very smoothly for India where they achieved the target with 45 balls remaining to be bowled in Dubai International Stadium.
With this century, Virat Kohli reached the 14,000 runs milestone in ODIs and became the fastest batter to do so leaving behind the great Sachin Tendulkar. This all happened because of a very crucial partnership between him and Shreyas Iyer( who scored a steady 57 off 68 deliveries). The partnership between the two helped India in stabilising the innings, after the wicket of Shubhman Gill who was looking dangerous to Pakistan.
Match Summary- Key Stats & Scorecard
| Category | India | Pakistan |
| Total Score | 242/4 (42.3 overs) | 241 all out (49.4 overs) |
| Top Batter | Virat Kohli – 100* (111) | Saud Shakeel – 50 (72) |
| Top Partnership | Kohli & Iyer – 100 runs | Rizwan & Shakeel – 102 runs |
| Best Bowler | Kuldeep Yadav – 3/40 | Abrar Ahmed – 2/43 |
| Extras | 8 wides, 2 leg byes | 10 wides, 3 leg byes |
| Winning Margin | India won by 6 wickets | – |
Pakistan’s Innings
Pakistan’s innings were full of ups and downs throughout the batting phase, and that too when the toss was won by Pakistan and they themselves decided to bat first. Pakistan lost two wickets early into the match but Mohammad Rizwan (44) and Saud Shakeel (50) kept Pakistan’s scorecard going. Just when they thought that the time had come to accelerate the innings, Indian spinners struck back and sent both of them back to the pavilion.
Once they were sent back to the dugout, the Indian bowlers gave no chance for the middle-order batsmen to settle again. Kuldeep Yadav (3/40), Axar Patel (2/38), and Hardik Pandya (2/31) applied brakes to Pakistan’s innings and kept on sending batsmen back to the pavilion at short intervals. In the end, Khushdil Shah showed some fighting back with his 39-run innings but still Pakistan managed only to score a total of 241 runs, which was a below-average number for a good batting pitch.
Pakistan Batting Performance:
| Batter | Runs (Balls) | Strike Rate | 4s/6s | Dismissal |
| Babar Azam (C) | 22 (27) | 81.48 | 3/0 | Bowled (Pandya) |
| Imam-ul-Haq | 15 (23) | 65.21 | 2/0 | Run Out (Axar) |
| Mohammad Rizwan | 44 (72) | 61.11 | 4/0 | Bowled (Axar) |
| Saud Shakeel | 50 (72) | 69.44 | 5/1 | LBW (Kuldeep) |
| Khushdil Shah | 39 (41) | 95.12 | 4/2 | Bowled (Jadeja) |
| Extras | 13 | – | – | – |
| Total | 241/10 | 4.84 RR | 18/3 | 49.4 overs |
India’s Chase
India started their innings in the typical fashion where both the openers Rohit Sharma and SHubhman Gill started bashing the bowlers for boundaries. But it didn’t go long as Rohit Sharma was dismissed at a score of 20 runs, scoring 3 boundaries till the time he was bowled by Rauf. This left India in a bit of a shaking situation but Prince Shubhman and King Kohli took matters into their hands and once again stabilized India’s concerning situation.
Kohli once again proved how deadly he is for opponent teams in chases. After the dismissal of Shubhman Gill (41 off 30) by Abrar Ahmed, he made a strong partnership with Shreyash Iyer, to ensure that no hiccups can come between the victory and India.
This time, Kohli managed his aggression with patience in a much-balanced way and took India to victory. At the same time, scoring his century with a stylish boundary on the very few last runs.
India Batting Performance:
| Batter | Runs (Balls) | Strike Rate | 4s/6s | Dismissal |
| Rohit Sharma (C) | 20 (22) | 90.90 | 3/0 | Bowled (Rauf) |
| Shubman Gill | 41 (30) | 136.66 | 6/1 | Bowled (Abrar) |
| Virat Kohli | 100 (111)* | 90.09 | 9/1 | Not Out |
| Shreyas Iyer | 57 (68) | 83.82 | 7/0 | Bowled (Abrar) |
| KL Rahul | 12 (18) | 66.67 | 2/0 | Caught (Afridi) |
| Extras | 8 | – | – | – |
| Total | 242/4 | 5.69 RR | 23/2 | 42.3 overs |
What’s Next?
After the win, India solidified their place at the top of the rankings of the Champions Trophy 2025. Whereas, when it comes to Pakistan, they really need to regroup again and resolve their batting inconsistency if they want to stay in consideration for the knockout matches to come.
Upcoming Matches:
- India’s Next Match: vs Australia (Feb 25, 2025)
- Pakistan’s Next Match: vs England (Feb 26, 2025)
