"Jahan matter bade hote hain, wahan Kohli khade hote hain" - Aakash Chopra lauds Virat Kohli's century in IND vs PAK 2025 Champions Trophy clash

Former India player Aakash Chopra has lauded Virat Kohli for scoring a match-winning century in the Men in Blue's 2025 Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan. He noted that the former India skipper always raises his game in crunch matches, especially against Pakistan.

India bowled Pakistan out for 241 after Mohammad Rizwan opted to bat first in the Group A game in Dubai on Sunday, February 23. Kohli scored an unbeaten 100 off 111 deliveries in the chase to help his team register a six-wicket win, with 45 deliveries to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener praised Kohli for silencing his critics and once again delivering the goods against arch-rivals Pakistan.

"Jahan matter bade hote hain, wahan Kohli khade hote hain (Kohli is always standing in the middle on the big stage). Questions were raised about his form, intent and fitness but he answered all the questions stupendously - 82nd international century and 51st ODI century. He has a personal enmity with Pakistan. Kohli's Virat avatar is suddenly seen against this team," he said (0:01).

Chopra noted that Kohli played a 'trademark' knock while chasing a slightly below-par total.

"This was a 270 to 280-run match but Pakistan couldn't reach there. It's otherwise said that a chase under 250 is easy, but small totals can get tricky if you lose back-to-back wickets. In such a scenario, Virat Kohli's trademark things came to the fore," he observed.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the modern batting great ensured the Men in Green would remain under pressure by staying till the end.

"The first thing is that he never removes his sight from the big picture. He knows that he needs to play till the end and take the match deep because if he stays there, the pressure will not be on him but on the opposing team as you are scared of going into the forest since there is a lion there. Whether the lion eats you or not is a separate story. Until Virat Kohli is there, his fear will be there," Chopra elaborated.

Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill (46 off 52) stitched together a 69-run second-wicket partnership after Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a 15-ball 20. The former then added 114 runs with Shreyas Iyer (56 off 67) for the third wicket before hitting the winning boundary to reach his hundred.

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"He kept his ego aside" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli's approach in IND vs PAK 2025 Champions Trophy clash

Virat Kohli struck only seven fours during his unbeaten 100-run knock. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra appreciated Virat Kohli for willingly playing second fiddle to Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer in Sunday's game.

"He kept his ego aside. He stood there when Shubman was hitting boundaries. It didn't bother him. When Shreyas was also hitting, it didn't bother him. Against pace, he allowed the ball to come to him and didn't go towards the ball with his hands. The trademark vintage Virat Kohli drives were seen, and those were not half volleys," he said (3:10).

The analyst added that Kohli didn't mind playing Abrar Ahmed cautiously and mainly looked to rotate the strike against the leg spinner.

"He batted beautifully. We saw him playing sweeps and reverse sweeps against spin during practice. He didn't do that at all. He took singles off the back foot. He said that Abrar might be a kid and he was the godfather there, but he would give him respect. He was okay even if Abrar was bowling dot balls. In the end, he accelerated a little and reached his century," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra noted that Virat Kohli showed that there is only one king. He added that the ace Indian batter isn't a king but an emperor.