Virat Kohli was cautious against Abrar throughout his stay, scoring only 16 runs in 30 balls at a strike rate of 53.33 without any boundary.
While Pakistan lost the Champions Trophy 2025 game against India, they had a big positive in Abrar Ahmed. He bowled a tight spell in the middle and ensured taking the game as deep as possible, even though it didn’t matter eventually.
Days after Pakistan’s early exit from the competition, Abrar opened up about his experience bowling Virat Kohli, who scored a marvellous ton in the game. On Telecom Asia Sport, the leg-spinner exclaimed he asked Kohli to hit a six, but the batter didn’t take the bait.
“My childhood dream of bowling to Kohli has come true in Dubai. It was a great challenge and I took the liberty of teasing him, asking him to hit me a six, but he never got angry. Kohli is a great batter, we all know that. But he is a great human being too.”
Kohli was cautious against Abrar throughout his stay, scoring only 16 runs in 30 balls at a strike rate of 53.33 without any boundary. He showed superior game awareness and played out Abrar’s spell without taking any risks, as the bowler finished with the figures of 10-0-28-1 to end as the best bowler of his side.
Multiple reasons went into Virat Kohli’s over-cautious batting against Abrar Ahmed in the Pakistan contest in Dubai. The biggest reason was how well Abrar bowled throughout his spell, as he was the most effective bowler of Pakistan in this game.
ALSO READ:
He had also dismissed Shubman Gill in the spell with a beautiful delivery, and the start wasn’t as fluent for new batters on that deck. Hence, Kohli knew he had to hold his end tight to ensure no further damage in the innings, and the only way to do so was by not taking unnecessary risks.
Further, leg-spinners have troubled Kohli lately, and Abrar was his biggest threat. So, it was wise to play a risk-free cricket against him.
Given Virat Kohli’s capabilities, he knew he could cover it up against other bowlers and did it precisely. While Kohli had a mere strike rate of 53.33 against Abrar, that strike rate surged to 103.70 against other Pakistani bowlers, as the legendary batter aced another chase to guide India to a comfortable win.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
