CHENNAI: On the third ball of the eleventh over during the chase at the Dubai International Stadium, Virat Kohli's blood pressure would have skyrocketed. The former India captain and No 3 was batting on eight of 12 balls and Rohit Sharma had already fallen in the powerplay.
Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf hit the back of length precisely, making the ball climb onto Kohli who tried to pull from outside-off. The ball took the top edge and flew towards the third man fielder. Another wicket, another failure here for Kohli could have been a crucial blow for India at this stage. However, it ended up falling short of Nassem Shah and Kohli let out a sigh of relief.
That, however, was the last time Kohli looked out of sorts at the ring of fire on Sunday. From thereon, with a sub-par total of 242 in front of him, the chase master took over. Kohli's first boundary, a perfect cover drive that brought up his 14,000 ODI runs put him in a zone from which he never came out of. He looked assured in the crease, and picked the chase apart with singles and doubles while picking up an occasional boundary.
He stuck to his anchor role while others batted around him, and got to his fifty in 62 balls on a slowish Dubai surface. By this time, it seemed clear that he was not going to stop until he got his century and the win for India. And it showed in the deflated Pakistan mood on the field even as Shubman Gill fell to a beauty from Abrar Ahmed and Shreyas Iyer got out to a stunning catch from Imam-ul-Haq.
The real nemesis for Pakistan was Kohli. He had been there and done that on innumerable occasions over the past 15 years. Sunday was not going to be any different. Fittingly, Kohli brought up his 51st ODI and 82nd international hundred with a shot that also got India across the line in what was yet another one-sided India-Pakistan contest. "My job is to focus on my skill, and to be able to do the job for my team as much as I can. I kept telling myself on the field when I felt down was to 'give hundred percent every time I face up'. Sometimes I'll get the reward. That's why I take a lot of pride in working hard on the field," Kohli would say after the match.
While Kohli stole the show with the bat, in the larger scheme of things, the theatre of India-Pakistan fell short of expectations once again. Pakistan, as they have done all but twice in the past decade, let go of momentum on crucial moments during both innings. So much so that midway through the chase, it would have taken a miracle for the Mohammad Rizwan-led side to come back into the contest. And they could not make it happen.
With the two teams not playing bilateral cricket, India and Pakistan have been slotted in the same group across every multi-nation tournament since 2013. Not just because of the rivalry but also the popularity and commercial aspect of the fixture. Fans fill up the stadium, viewership soars and millions get made from TV and digital commercials. To say that the world comes to a stop and does a digital watch party would not be an understatement. However, billed as the the most important fixture of the Champions Trophy, the tie once again failed to live up to the expectations in terms of on-field contest with India walking over Pakistan to seal a six-wicket win.
Brief scores: Pakistan 241 all out in 49.4 ovs (Shakeel 62, Rizwan 46; Pandya 2/31, Kuldeep 3/40) lost to India 244/4 in 42.3 ovs (Kohli 100 n.o, Gill 46, Iyer 56; Abrar 1/28).
