I wasn't feeling desperate - Virat Kohli on the approach to his match-winning 84 vs Australia

Virat Kohli reigned supreme in another special chase that saw India eliminating Australia from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Kohli’s classy 84 was the highlight of India’s scintillating batting as he rocked the Aussie bowlers emphatically. For his match-winning knock, he won the Player of the Match award, his 7th award in the history of ICC ODI tournaments.

Talking at the post-match presentation, Kohli opened up on the conditions and how he planned his innings. He also drew a similarity between his knock against Australia and Pakistan, while underlining the fact that he wanted to modulate his knock as per the demands of the situation.

Likening his knock to the one against Pakistan, Kohli said, “It was pretty similar to the other day against Pakistan as well. For me it is about understanding the conditions and preparing my game accordingly.. just rotating strike because partnerships on this pitch are the most important thing. My only effort that day and today was to string in enough partnerships.”

Adding further on what was his plan at the moment when he got out, Kohli said, “The time that I got out, the plan was to get 20 more and try and finish it off in a couple of overs. Usually that's the template I follow but sometimes you can't execute things how you want to. It's all dependent on the conditions, the pitch tells me how the cricket needs to be played and then I just switch on and play accordingly.”

Pinpointing the elements of the knock which pleased him, Kohli said, “My timing. The composure at the crease.. I wasn't feeling desperate, I was pretty happy knocking ones around and when as a batsman you start taking pride in taking singles into the gaps, that is when you know you are playing good cricket and you know you are in for a big partnership and settle the nerves down a little bit and head towards chasing the total down. In the game against Pakistan and today that was the most pleasing factor for me.”