Virat Kohli headlines fearless charge as India lay waste to Pakistan in ICC Champions Trophy 2025

It was another emphatic performance for Team India as they outclassed their arch-rivals, Pakistan with a clinical show of all-round brilliance in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Despite losing out on the toss, the Men in Blue were in phenomenal touch altogether right from the word ‘go’.

Asked to bowl first, the Indian bowlers were desperate to find inroads against the opening pair of Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam. The latter controlled the tempo of the innings with a fine 23 before Hardik Pandya provided the opening breakthrough for India. Axar Patel’s bulls-eye enterprise saw the back of Imam-ul-Haq for a struggling tenner.

It was the partnership of Saud Shakeel (62) and Mohammad Rizwan (46) that not only stabilized the ship for Pakistan but also propelled them to the driver’s seat for a while. It was eventually Axar Patel who rattled through the gates of Rizwan to ply India with a glimmer of hope.

Hardik Pandya returned into action to get the better of Shakeel, opening up the floodgates for Team India. The Indian bowling force needed no separate invitation and soon there was an extremely stringent display of accuracy reigning supreme from the Men in Blue.

Despite Khushdil Shah (38) putting up a fight, it wasn’t enough for Pakistan to keep India at bay. They were bundled out for 241 in just 49.4 overs. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the lot for Team India, registering figures of 9-0-40-3. With 242 being the target for the Men in Blue, all they needed to do was just keep the wickets in check.

Rohit Sharma (20) did get those early fireworks into play but he fell short of what could have been a remarkable innings. It was Virat Kohli’s arrival that steadied the frayed nerves in the center and from thereon, Team India rocked and rolled at a breezy pace.

Shubman Gill (46) was in a mood to dominate the Pakistani bowlers before Abrar Ahmed sent him back. However, the fall of Gill did very little to dampen the Indian spirits as Shreyas Iyer had things under total control once he walked into the center. It was a staggering 114 runs stand for the third wicket between Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer as the boundaries flew at a breezy pace.

Pakistan did manage to claim a couple of wickets towards the end in the form of Iyer (56) and Hardik Pandya (8) but India had already sailed way too close to the finish line by then. Kohli stayed anchored till the end, before finishing it off in style, racking up his 82nd international ton and his 51stODI ton overall.

India seized the match by six wickets, bolstering their grip on the qualification slots for the semi-finals. Virat Kohli won the Player of the Match award for his extraordinary ton that painted the podium of brilliance in the clash of the arch-rivals blue.