Virat Kohli is set for his 300th ODI on Sunday in the latest landmark for the Indian batting great after silencing doubts over his form and future with a match-winning Champions Trophy century.

India face New Zealand in their last group match in Dubai with both teams already into the semi-finals of the 50-over tournament.

Called “King Kohli” for his prolific run-scoring, the batsman went through an extended lean patch with speculation swirling that he and captain Rohit Sharma could soon retire. They have already quit T20Is.

But Kohli roared back with an unbeaten 100 in their win over arch-rivals Pakistan to take them to the brink of the semi-finals, which they reached after a New Zealand win.

Kohli (36) rolled back the years with his first ODI century since November 2023 as he took his time before bossing the opposition bowlers.

Teammate KL Rahul said the veteran has still a lot left in the tank.

“That [300] is a lot of ODI games and a lot of international games and he’s been … I mean, words fall short to express how good a player he’s been and what a great servant of Indian cricket he’s been,” Rahul told reporters on Friday in Dubai.

“Really happy to see that he got the 100 last game as well and he’s been batting really well. For a player of his calibre it was about time that he scores that big century and a match-winning century.”

Rahul added: “Virat and Rohit, they are the senior players and you are always looking up to them to step up and score when the big games come. Hopefully there’s many more hundreds left for him [Kohli] and many more games of international cricket.”

Both Kohli and Rohit retired from T20Is after India’s triumph in the World Cup last year.

Kohli went past 14,000 ODI runs early in his innings against Pakistan, becoming only the third batsman to achieve the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.

The knock was Kohli’s 51st ODI ton in 299 matches since his debut in 2008. He has 82 hundreds across the three international formats.

Kohli is the 22nd player in history and seventh Indian to enter the 300 club.

Tendulkar tops the list with 463 ODIs.

“I think that’s obviously a massive achievement,” New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell said of Kohli’s longevity. “Three hundred games across a career is very impressive and then to put that in just one format is amazing.

“I think it’s a testament to the way that he’s gone about his career.”

Bracewell played with Kohli at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL and said he was looking forward to facing him on Sunday.

“I saw it first hand at RCB how he sort of prepared for each match and it’s very impressive,” said Bracewell. “He’s one of a number of class players in the Indian lineup and they’ve all played a lot of cricket now.”

Kohli has endured plenty of bumps along the way.

He won the 2011 ODI World Cup under MS Dhoni and then took over as captain.

Kohli helped India get back to the top of the Test rankings but he was unable to deliver the cricket-crazy nation a global title.

That drought, combined with his runs drying up, saw Kohli removed as ODI captain after giving up the T20 job.

Kohli gave up leading the Test side too and later talked about his mental struggles during his dry phase, including how he had been “snappy” around wife Anushka Sharma.

Known to wear his heart on his sleeve, Kohli has never shied away from a battle on the field and despite the odd controversy, is a hero to Indian fans.

Supporters invading the pitch to touch his feet and take selfies are regular occurrences at Indian venues.

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Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan believes veteran duo Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma still have what it takes to deliver for their country.

Kohli hit an unbeaten 100 on Sunday, his 51st ODI century, as India swept aside Pakistan by six wickets in Dubai to stand on the cusp of the Champions Trophy semi-finals.

Pakistan, who are hosting all of the games except those involving India, are on the brink of elimination after their second defeat of the tournament.

Rohit made a quickfire 20 at the top of the innings as India went after 242 for victory and Kohli took charge after the captain’s exit to steer the team home with 45 balls to spare.

Kohli (36) and Rohit (37) have struggled for form since retiring from T20Is after last year’s World Cup win, with speculation swirling that they could soon retire.

But Kohli rolled back the years with his first ODI century since November 2023.

“Virat standing on the crease, his presence is big. The opposition have fear in them,” said Dhawan, who is in Dubai as a tournament ambassador.

Kohli went past 14,000 ODI runs early in his innings, becoming only the third batsman to achieve the landmark after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.

Rohit struck form with a century in India’s 3-0 home sweep of England earlier this month and hit a 36-ball 41 in India’s opening win over Bangladesh.

“Recently Rohit scored an amazing century, but it’s not about a century or half-century,” said Dhawan, a swashbuckling opener who played his last ODI in 2022 and won the Champions Trophy in 2013.

“Today Rohit played a quick 20 runs, that also carries value. He created that fearless environment for the whole team,” he added. “He’s got a great impact in early overs in today’s cricket.

“Things have changed, so now it’s good to take that risk and play aerial shots. We used to see it only in T20 cricket but now we see it in 50-over cricket.

“The Pakistan batsmen did not play any aerial shots, but Rohit came and took that risk, which played in India’s favour.”

Pressed on the futures of Rohit and Kohli, Dhawan said: “They have a lot of cricket left in them.”

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who took a crucial 3-40 to peg back Pakistan, hailed Man of the Match Kohli.

“There is only one big player in the team and that is Virat bhai [brother], who played a brilliant innings,” Kuldeep said.

“Hope that I can continue performing well,” added the left-arm wrist spinner, who recently returned after hernia surgery.

“Obviously if you play good cricket, stick around with good players, and you know you have a good team with two senior players who are greats.”

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Superstar Virat Kohli flopped in his first domestic cricket match in more than a decade to the dismay of thousands who turned out to see him play.

India’s stars were ordered by the BCCI to return to domestic matches in a bid to lift their form following a soul-searching 3-1 series defeat in Australia.

Kohli and other team titans have made regular appearances in the IPL, but this week marked his return to the Ranji Trophy, the country’s premier red-ball tournament, after a 12-year absence.

The 36-year-old strode in to bat for home team Delhi on day two of their match against Railways to roars and chants of his name from the stands.

After a circumspect start and a few play-and-misses on the off-side, Kohli drove fast bowler Himanshu Sangwan for a rasping straight drive to bring the crowd to its feet.

But the joy was shortlived as the next ball went straight through his defence and the off-stump went cartwheeling with him on six.

Dejected fans began making their way to the exit even as Kohli was walking back to the pavilion, and the stadium numbers soon dwindled from thousands to less than a few hundred.

India captain Rohit Sharma had also faltered on his return to Ranji cricket last week when he scored just three off 19 balls for Mumbai.

Rohit and fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal opted out of this week’s match.

Both Kohli and Rohit have faced severe scrutiny over their recent batting struggles in Australia, with questions raised on their future in Test cricket.

Kohli scored an unbeaten century in the first Test but his other eight innings in the series produced just 90 runs in total.

Thirty-seven-year-old Rohit, who missed the only India win of the series in the first Test because of the birth of his second child, managed 31 runs in three matches.

India’s next Test assignment will be their tour to England for five matches starting in June.

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All of Virat Kohli’s dismissals in the Test series in Australia have been edged and caught behind the wicket.

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The ICC fined India’s Virat Kohli 20% of his match fee for deliberately bumping shoulders with young Australian batsman Sam Konstas in the fourth Test on Thursday.

The Indian veteran made forceful contact with the 19-year-old debutant after Konstas belted the bowlers around the MCG on his way to a blistering 60 off 65 balls.

It sparked a heated exchange between the pair in the first session, with Konstas’ fellow opener Usman Khawaja and umpire Michael Gough intervening.

The ICC announced on Thursday that Kohli “has been fined 20% of his match fee and awarded one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct”.

The code relates to “inappropriate physical contact with a player, player support personnel, umpire, match referee or any other person (including a spectator during an international match,” the ICC said in a statement.

“No formal hearing was needed as Kohli accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft,” it added.

Kohli, who is considered one of the best batsmen of this generation, was criticised by many for his on-field actions.

“Virat walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation,” Ricky Ponting said on Australia’s Channel Seven. “No doubt in my mind whatsoever.

“I have no doubt that the umpires and the referee will have a good look at that.”

Former India coach Ravi Shastri called Kohli’s actions “absolutely unnecessary”.

“Virat’s a senior player, he’s been captain … he’ll have his own explanations with regards to that, but it’s one thing you don’t want to see,” he said on Fox Sports.

“One person who will be watching, his eyes locked into the proceedings, is Andy Pycroft.”

Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan, also on commentary duties in Australia, said Kohli “completely acted wrong”.

“I don’t know why a senior pro who’s played for so long … why’s he’s been rattled by a 19-year-old. Sam Konstas did absolutely nothing wrong there,” he added.

Konstas, called into the side after Nathan McSweeney was axed, played down the incident in a post-match news conference.

“I was just doing my gloves and I think he accidentally bumped me. But that’s just cricket, the tension,” said the teenager, Australia’s youngest-ever opener.

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