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Cricket Players'Main maar raha tha na': KL Rahul gives Virat Kohli a piece of his mind as he throws his century away against Australia
KL Rahul expressed his disappointment after Virat Kohli, the star batter, attempting a big shot, got out for 84 in Champions Trophy semi-final vs Australia.
When KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were just beginning to stitch a solid-looking partnership, India had a drinks interval. During the break, Rahul went up to Kohli to have a word, his body language suggesting what every Indian watching the match felt - you bat long, I will do the hitting. It was a crucial juncture in the game. The final 10 overs were about to be bowled, with India still needing 65 to win. With Kohli important to India’s chances, Rahul switched gears, hitting a four and a six in the next five balls he faced. It was a huge moment in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. With the equation now down to 45 needed off 40 balls, one of two things could have happened. Kohli, batting on 84, could have listened to Rahul, or finish the match himself. He opted for the latter. The only problem? He did not succeed in his quest.
After batting in cruise control for most of the chase, Kohli, as uncharacteristically as one can imagine, attempted a slog sweep against Adam Zampa when it was most unnecessary and hit it straight to the long-on fielder. So distraught was KL Rahul at the non-striker's end that he did not shy away from giving Kohli a piece of his mind. Yes, you read that right.
"Main maar raha that naa (I was going after the bowling)," he told Kohli as he walked past him. More than missing a deserving a century, Kohli's wicket gave Australia a new lease of life and that is perhaps why Rahul could not hold back. It was more in disappointed than in anger. For Kohli's shot came right after Rahul had a six in the same over and India needed less than a run a ball.
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Thankfully for India, Rahul held his nerve and did nothing uncharacteristic. He remained unbeaten on 42 off 34 balls and finished the match with a six in the first ball of the 49th over to help India enter their fifth Champions Trophy final. In between, he had Hardik Pandya for company, who played a cameo of 28 off 24 balls before holing out to long on.
Kohli's masterclass in beating Australia
The one false shot, however, takes nothing away from the masterclass that Kohli produced. He had wonderful support from Shreyas Iyer (45) with whom he realised 91 runs for the third wicket, and steadied the ship after the early departures of skipper Rohit Sharma (28) and Shubman Gill (9).
Australia were weakened by the absence of some of their premier stars, but India had not beaten them in the knockouts of an ICC tournament since the quarterfinal of the 2011 World Cup. However, Kohli was determined to correct that anomaly. The pitch used for the semifinal was fresh but much smoother than the ones on which the previous matches were played.
Kohli does not need a second invitation to exploit such conditions and a near-perfect control helped him keep pace with the asking rate. Kohli's struggle point in an ODI innings is his inability to force the pace against spinners, but here the champion batter negated leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who had his number on a few occasions in the past, quite effectively.
The 36-year-old used the pull and drives, two of his most productive shots, to optimum effect. He placed him in the wide arc between sweeper cover and mid-wicket for easy, risk-free runs. He lost the company of both Iyer, who played some delectable shots, and Axar Patel (27) in rather quick succession but Kohli went past his 50 in 53 balls.
Glenn Maxwell dropped him on 51 off left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly, a perceived early signal of an inevitable Kohli hundred. But it did not arrive as an ugly hit off Zampa ended in the hands of Ben Dwarshuis near long-on when India were 40 runs away from victory.
