"His discipline, his awareness of match situations" - Former India coach praises Virat Kohli's greatness in ODIs ahead of IND vs NZ 2025 CT final
Former Team India coach Ravi Shastri has opened up on what sets Virat Kohli apart in 50-overs international cricket ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy final. Shastri opined that Kohli's discipline and match awareness are unparalleled although he went off the boil in the past few years.
The 36-year-old has played a vital role in helping India reach the final of the eight-team tournament. The right-handed batter played decisive knocks against Pakistan and Australia, with the Men in Blue chasing tricky totals to win the match.
Speaking on the latest episode of the ICC Review, the 62-year-old pointed out that Kohli was back to to doing what he does best, which is take singles and hit the ball along the ground. He said:
"His discipline, his awareness of match situations. I thought he tried to get ahead of himself in the last three or four years, where he was trying to outdo what he's good at and sometimes, it can catch up on you. But he's back to what he does best, which is take the singles, hit the ball along the ground, if necessary, go for the big one. Some of the greatest players who played the one-day game, especially in the chase, are guys who can do that. When you pick up singles with ease, there's no pressure."
The Delhi-born cricketer recently became the fastest to score 14,000 ODI runs, doing so only in 287 innings and joined Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara in that elite class.
Ravi Shastri compares Virat Kohli to other great sportsmen
In the same discussion, Shastri compared Kohli to great sportsmen like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal for the energy they bring. He elaborated:
"You know people (like to) watch sport when they watch a sportsman with energy. Whether his name is (Cristiano) Ronaldo or it's (Lionel) Messi or whether it’s a (Novak) Djokovic or whether it's (Rafael) Nadal, that energy that they bring in – there’s a certain kind of charisma and it rubs off on other people. They want to watch this guy play. It just goes to show the amount of sacrifice an individual makes. I saw that with Tendulkar, loved his food, loves to do things that the other boys wanted to do, but said no."
Kohli was part of the squad the last time India won the Champions Trophy in 2013 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.