Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Virat Kohli for scoring a match-winning fifty in the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia. He added that the modern batting great delivered the goods when everyone was reliant on him after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “When he came to bat, Shubman Gill had gotten out. We had great expectations from him, but he got an inside edge and got caught. Rohit Sharma was there with Kohli. Rohit Sharma was as lucky as Travis Head. Two catches were dropped and he got a four off an inside edge. However, when Rohit Sharma got out, everyone was looking towards Virat, and he stood there.”
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“When he scored a hundred against Pakistan, he hit only seven fours. He didn’t score a hundred against Australia here, came close to a hundred for sure, and he hit only five fours, which means he scored his runs through running after placing the ball into gaps. He had 56 singles. He wasn’t hitting fours but was maintaining the run rate,” he added.
However, Aakash Chopra also added that Virat Kohli set a lot of records during his 84-run knock in the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final as well.
“Isn’t he the best finisher on the planet? Virat Kohli bats at No. 3 and the finishing job is for Nos. 5 to 7. He didn’t go after finishing this time, but he is the chase master. He has scored more than 8000 runs while chasing. He has crossed the 8000-run mark. He is the first person to score more than 1000 runs in ICC knockout history,” he said.
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“When the matter is big, our guy is standing. Kohli’s bat roars when there is a mountain of runs to chase, and he showed that by doing it once again. Get an AI done, but if someone can break down a run chase better than that, that’s our Virat Kohli. He is the best finisher in the world ever seen,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
