"That's the frustrating part about bowling to him" - Aussie spinner analyzes Virat Kohli's brilliance in ODIs after 2025 Champions Trophy semifinal 1

Australian left-arm spinner Ashton Agar has termed Virat Kohli's ability to constantly rotate the strike as the most frustrating part of bowling to him in one-day cricket. According to Agar, the Indian star does not allow any pressure to build even when he is not hitting boundaries because he is constantly taking singles.

India beat Australia by four wickets in the first semifinal of the 2025 Champions Trophy in Dubai on Tuesday, March 4. Bowling first, they held the Aussies to 264 and then chased down the total as Kohli top-scored with a patient 84 off 98, hitting only five fours in his knock.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Agar hailed Kohli's knock, which put India in their third consecutive Champions Trophy final. Praising the seasoned Indian batter, he explained why bowling to Kohli is extremely tough in ODIs. Agar commented:

"That’s the frustrating part about bowling to him. It’s not just the damage he does with boundaries—it’s the fact that you can’t build pressure on him. You never really feel like you’re on top of him unless the ball is really spinning. And you don’t get a lot of pitches like that in one-day cricket."

"He has this fantastic ability to hit your best ball—the top of middle stump, slightly spinning away—by holding the bat’s face slightly longer than others do. He opens it at the last second and hits it in the cover-point gap. He’s probably the best in the world at doing that, and it’s very difficult to build pressure on him," the 31-year-old went on to add.

Chasing 265, India lost openers Shubman Gill (8) and Rohit Sharma (28) inside the powerplay. Kohli then added 91 runs for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer (45 off 62) to steady the ship. KL Rahul (42* off 34) did the finishing job and also hit the winning runs with a six off Glenn Maxwell.

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Virat Kohli's exceptional record in ODI chases

Kohli has an impressive record in one-dayers while batting first. In 130 innings, he has notched up 6,117 runs at an average of 51.40 and a strike rate of 93.48, with 23 hundreds and 33 half-centuries. However, his stats get even better in chases. In 159 innings, the 36-year-old has amassed 8,063 runs, averaging 64.50 at a strike rate of 93.24, with 28 hundreds and 41 half-centuries.

Of his 28 tons while batting second, as many as 24 have come in winning causes. Overall, Kohli has played 301 ODIs and has scored 14,180 runs at an average of 58.11 and a strike rate of 93.35, with 51 hundreds and 74 fifties.