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'If you get out another batter comes and it becomes a lot harder. But yeah, he felt...': KL Rahul reveals his conversation with Virat Kohli before he got out

KL Rahul had his plan in place after he had played himself in. He wanted to take on the Australian bowlers and play the risky game with Virat Kohli playing the anchor on the other end.

Sports Tak

• Wed • 05 Mar 2025

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli during their partnership in the run chase against Australia in Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal.

Highlights:

KL Rahul finished the run chase with a six.

Rahul wanted Virat Kohli to carry on and let him take the risks.

Rahul played himself in and then attacked the Australian bowlers.

India were in control of the run chase against Australia in ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal. Virat Kohli aka 'The Chase Master' had his plan chalked out and stuck to it until he took the aerial route against Adam Zampa and lost his wicket in the 43rd over of the innings. His batting partner, KL Rahul expressed his disappointment saying 'Main maar raha tha na yaar' meaning he was going after the bowling and there was no need for that shot from Kohli. However, Rahul took India over the line and hit the winning six as well. After the match, he revealed his conversation with Kohli when he had faced 10-12 balls and assessed the pitch.

"When I walked in and when I played 10-12 balls I told him that you're the batter that needs to go on and be there till the end. And let me try and hit or let me try and take one chance an over. Because like you said we only needed 6 runs and over. But 6 runs and over on that wicket seemed like 8-8.5. So, you had to take one chance and over, one boundary or one six," Rahul told Star Sports.

"So, I told him that I will do that and why don't you just rotate the strike and be there because you're the set batter and it might be harder. If you get out another set batter comes it becomes a lot more harder. But yeah, he felt like it was in his range to hit and yeah he didn't time it well."

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'Player of the match' Kohli on his dismissal

Kohli was happy with his performance but admitted that he went a little off from what he planned with Rahul when he decided to take on leg-spinner Zampa.

"The time that I got out, the plan was to get 20 more and try and finish it off in a couple of overs. Usually that's the template I follow but sometimes you can't execute things how you want to," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

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Kohli scored 84 runs from 98 balls. He rotated the strike well and scored just five fours in his match-winning knock. He was adjudged the 'Player of the match' for pacing India's run chase. He is currently the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 217 runs from four innings at an average of 72.33. Only England's Ben Duckett (227 runs) and Joe Root (225 runs) are ahead of him.