CHENNAI: "I think there was about seven fours when I got a hundred (against Pakistan). For me, it's about just understanding the conditions, preparing my game accordingly, just rotating strike. Because partnerships on this pitch are the most important thing and my only effort that day and today was to string in enough partnerships." That was India batter Virat Kohli after the match-winning 84 against Australia in the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai on Tuesday.
One Day International cricket is not the same as it was when Kohli started out in the late 2000s. Since then multiple double centuries have been made, several ceilings have been broken in terms of totals and boundaries hit. By and large, just the way teams look at what is expected to be a par total on a given surface has changed dramatically.
England were the front-runners of such a transformation through 2015-19 and India took a leaf out of their book post 2022. So much so that England captain Jos Buttler reiterated on multiple occasions that they want to do what Rohit Sharma and his lads are doing with the bat during the three-match series before the Champions Trophy. While there are several factors and viewpoints to this change in dynamic, two new balls and flatter pitches included, at the core of it all is the shortest format and batters adapting to it, while applying the same through 50 overs.
The thing about this though is that when it comes off, the batters look great. But when it doesn't, they are blamed. It is a sword you have to live and fall by. As it was the case when Rohit fell during the ODI World Cup final in 2023 or what Brendon McCullum did in the 2015 ODI WC final — both against Australia. What it also means is that many tend to struggle while building an innings, especially on pitches where the ball does not necessarily come on to the bat.
Only few, despite adapting to the modern ethos of batting and hitting in white-ball cricket, have been able to retain the qualities of building an innings. Kohli is perhaps at the front and centre of it, along with England's Joe Root. He was the leading run-scorer for India during the ODI World Cup at home — 765 runs at an average of 95.62 while striking at 90.31 — with Rohit to follow (597 runs, 54.27 AVG, 125.94 SR). India's batting depth allows him to play the anchor while the rest bat around him and express themselves freely.
In saying that, what is also an undeniable fact is how good Kohli is in structuring an innings, even on a surface like Dubai where he has plausible negative match-ups against spinners. At the core of it is how minimal he is when it comes to dot balls and how much he maximises running between the wickets. Take the century against Pakistan. He scored an unbeaten 100 off 111 balls but only had 28 runs in boundaries. 72 off them were taken by running between wickets. That is essentially 72 per cent of his tally. During the 84 he made against Australia in the semifinal from 98 balls, only 20 came in boundaries. Which meant 76 per cent of his score came from non-boundary runs. In contrast, Shubman Gill's 101 not out off 129 balls against Bangladesh featured (48 runs in boundaries) only 52.47 per cent non-boundary runs.
It is the template Kohli built his ODI career on, rather successfully. More than 14,000 runs in the format, fastest to do so, most centuries in the format — both surpassing Sachin Tendulkar — the accolades go on. What makes it all the more remarkable is that he is still able to do this day in and day out despite all the shortcomings and technical flaws that have creeped into his game in both T20s and red-ball cricket. In 2025, Kohli has a dot ball per cent of 44.14 while accumulating 57.3 per cent of his runs running between the wickets.
Among top-order (No 1-4) batters with most dot balls this year, only England's Joe Root has a lower dot per cent (40) and a marginally lesser non-boundary per cent (56.08) than Kohli. Shreyas Iyer (44.5/46.54), Kane Williamson (49.89/45.89) and Rachin Ravindra (43.4/38.3) have less than 50 per cent dot balls but more than half their runs still come from boundaries. Meanwhile, someone like Mohammad Rizwan (54.9/53.64), Devon Conway (60.08/39.46) and Shubman Gill (57.45/36.06) all have more than 50 per cent dot balls while still relying on boundaries for building their innings.
If there is one player who has as minimal if not better dot ball per cent than Kohli while still plundering runs in boundaries better than most, it would be South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen. Such is the Proteas middle-order batter's role and ability to hit that he has a dot ball per cent of 42.01 in 2025 while taking 71.78 per cent of his runs in boundaries. The difference between the two is that Klaasen is rarely in a position where he has to build an innings and bat for more than 25-30 overs. Which is where Kohli stands out, especially while chasing. "I was pretty happy knocking singles around. When as a batter you start taking pride in hitting those singles into the gaps, that's when you know you're playing good cricket. You know you're in for a big partnership and settle the nerves down a little bit and head towards chasing the total down. That for me in the game against Pakistan and today, that was the most pleasing factor for me," he said on Tuesday.
Come Sunday, Kohli would want to continue from where he left against Australia and take India home for one last time in this tournament.
