Virat Kohli’s Brilliance Stamps India’s Semi-Final Spot

In the year's most important match, Virat Kohli demonstrated that he still has it and that perhaps, just possibly, the little he has lost won't define him, even though his mortality was more evident than ever. He reached 14,000 runs in ODI cricket, scored his 51st ODI century, advanced India to the semi-finals, and virtually eliminated Pakistan from the 2025 Champions Trophy. To remain in the tournament, the hosts and holders require additional outcomes.

India was the favorite going into the match. They deserved that seeding, keeping Pakistan to 241 while Hardik Pandya played like he ought to be out of the game. An all-round player who can get rid of the opposition's top batsman and then return to take out their top scorer is more than simply a name on the scoreboard. He is the key ingredient.

The cherry on top was Kuldeep Yadav. He made his extremely unique left-arm wrist spin even more rare by figuring out how to go quickly through the air without sacrificing accuracy or rotation. This implies that hitters will constantly be guessing unless they pick him out of the hand. Three hitters from Pakistan made incorrect guesses. Each of the three was a wicket in the end overs. At the death, Pakistan was getting ready to blow up. Kuldeep refused to let them to. His menace is unaffected by the injury.

Moments could be produced by Pakistan. Rohit Sharma's stumps were broken by Shaheen Shah Afridi's 143 kph inswinging yorker. To get rid of a furious Shubman Gill, Abrar Ahmed summoned a carrom ball from hell. However, they just were unable to capitalize on them. Consequently, a world-champion team that was known for saving games from certain death suddenly appears to be doing the first part correctly—they undoubtedly encountered difficulties in Dubai—but the crucial portion is going wrong. When Harshit Rana, the most inexperienced player on the Indian team, dictated terms, Pakistan was 151 for 2 in the 34th over before being bowled out for 241. His slower balls were simply unhittable.

Eventually, a rivalry with history spilling from every pore and a game in an ICC event became so one-sided that an individual pursuit took over the last moments. To allow Kohli to get his hundred, Axar Patel declined an easy two. That was a huge hit with the Dubai crowd. They yelled their hero's name repeatedly as they needed to score 12 runs to win the match and another 12 to reach their hero's century. There was no sign of Pakistan. This game took a turn for the worse after they collapsed to 3 for 11 in 19 balls.

Mohammad Rizwan hoped that the innings would turn out so differently. After hitting his first ball for four and coming in at 47 for 2, he determined he was not cut out for scoring runs. Off 50, he was 24. In his rage, he hardly hit the ball. He flatly refused to. Saud Shakeel was at least trying to convert the nice balls he was facing into singles at the other end. He had only withstood 29 dot balls by the time he reached fifty.