On Sunday, India secured a convincing victory over Pakistan in a Champions Trophy match in Dubai. Virat Kohli starred in the win, scoring an unbeaten 100 in the chase. However, according to Sunil Gavaskar, Kohli could have been dismissed even before reaching his fifty if Pakistan had appealed for his act of handling a throw.
Virat Kohli stopping a throw unimpressed Sunil Gavaskar
The video of the incident is now circulating widely on the internet. This incident occurred on the first ball of the 22nd over of the innings. Kohli played a shot towards the off-side and ran for an easy single.
The fielder threw the ball towards the bowler’s end, and Kohli found himself in its path. With no Pakistan player positioned behind the throw and the delivery lacking pace, Kohli, who was well within the crease, stopped the ball with his hand.
However, commentator Sunil Gavaskar found Virat Kohli’s act unacceptable. According to Gavaskar, by doing so, Kohli not only denied India a run but could have also been given out for obstructing the field if Pakistan had appealed.
“Nobody is backing up. The fielder at the midwicket would have had to dive, but there was no need for him to interfere with the progress of the ball. He (Kohli) is lucky nobody has appealed,” said Sunil Gavaskar on air.
Gavaskar’s fellow commentator, Ramiz Raja, also took a dig at Kohli’s act immediately. Just an over earlier, Raja had been praising Kohli’s game awareness, but after this incident, he went on to remark, “And here I was, raving about his game awareness.”
— Nihari Korma (@NihariVsKorma) February 23, 2025
Talking about the match, Pakistan, after opting to bat first, was bowled out for 244. India faced no trouble in the chase, thanks to Virat Kohli’s partnerships with Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. With a comfortable six-wicket victory in their second group match, India has all but secured a spot in the semi-finals.
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On the other hand, Pakistan’s chances of making it to the semi-finals have become slim after suffering back-to-back defeats. The remaining three matches of Group A are: Bangladesh vs New Zealand on February 24, followed by Pakistan vs Bangladesh on February 27, and the last one between India and New Zealand on March 2.