“Main bhi thoda maths kar raha tha” - Axar Patel recalls Virat Kohli’s century in IND vs PAK 2025 Champions Trophy match

Pakistan v India - ICC Champions Trophy 2025 - Source: Getty
Virat Kohli reached his hundred on the last ball of the match (Image Credit: Getty)

Team India all-rounder Axar Patel has revealed that he was figuring out the permutations and combinations to help Virat Kohli reach his hundred in the 2025 Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan. The left-handed batter scored three runs off four deliveries, as Kohli reached the landmark figure to wrap up the contest at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, February 23.

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Axar Patel came into bat following Hardik Pandya's dismissal against Shaheen Afridi in the 40th over. At that juncture, India needed 19 runs to win while Kohli was unbeaten on 86.

Axar played his part in handing over the strike to Virat Kohli whenever possible, but the equation kept getting tighter as Kohli neared his 51st hundred. After a couple of wides and byes, the left-handed player brought the ace batter back on strike in the 43rd over, with the 242-run target only a couple of runs away.

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Virat Kohli scored a sublime boundary through the off-side off Khushdil Shah's bowling to finish off the run chase and bring up his record-extending 51st ODI hundred.

"At the end, actually main bhi thoda maths kar raha tha unke hundred ke liye (Even I was doing the math for his hundred towards the end). I was hoping that I don't edge the ball or something. So, it was quite fun," Axar Patel said (via ICC's official Instagram account).
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Kohli was in a similar dilemma during the 2023 ODI World Cup league-stage clash against Bangladesh. The target was closing in as the right-handed batter was nearing his ton. On that occasion, he had KL Rahul at the other end, who helped him bring up his ton to close out the match in Pune.

"I think it is great how he has maintained that level of fitness" - Axar Patel lauds Virat Kohli

The unrelenting heat in Dubai has got to several players already in the tournament. During the first match at the venue in the 2025 Champions Trophy, Bangladesh batter Towhid Hridoy had to battle severe cramps in his marathon innings.

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Virat Kohli was faced with the hard task of batting long after coming in early to bat in the run chase against Pakistan. Despite fielding for 50 overs in the heat, he showed no signs of fatigue as he ran his way through a hundred. Given that the slow surface and the reasonably large boundaries were not conducive for boundaries, 72 runs off Kohli's unbeaten 100 came through running between the wickets.

Axar Patel lauded Kohli's fitness levels and relished the opportunity of witnessing a significant hundred.

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"I think it's the first time that I got the chance to witness from the dressing room, a high-pressure game where Virat has scored a century. I had a lot of fun and the way he was running between the wickets after fielding for 50 overs, I think it is great how he has maintained that level of fitness," Patel said in the same video.

India have an extended break following their successive wins in the Champions Trophy 2025 group stage. The Men in Blue will face New Zealand on Sunday, March 2, at the Dubai International Stadium.

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Edited by Parag Jain
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