DUBAI: 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 semifinals 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 skipper 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 semifinals, 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 T20 internationals 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 Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League 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 line-up 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 M.S. 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.
Kohli set for another landmark after roaring back to form against Pakistan
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Kohli set for another landmark after roaring back to form against Pakistan
- Kohli roared back with an unbeaten 100 in their win over arch-rivals Pakistan to take them to the brink of semifinals
- The 36-year-old went past 14,000 ODI runs early in his innings, becoming only the third batsman to achieve the milestone
Own goal enough for Al-Ahli as Matchday 24 win keeps pressure on Al-Nassr
- Al-Ahli eke out 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh to keep pressure on Al-Nassr
- Milan Borjan own goal separated the sides at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium
RIYADH: Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League kicked off on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the delayed Matchday 10. With the FIFA Arab Cup, World Cup Qualifiers and FIFA World Cup sandwiching the 2025/26 campaign, resting periods have been few and far between outside the international breaks.
With fixtures coming thick and fast, Al-Ahli opted to rest Riyad Mahrez and Enzo Millot for their clash with Al-Riyadh in the capital. Ramadan has further challenged the league schedule, with Matthias Jaissle’s side only arriving in Riyadh at 5:30pm — just hours before kick-off.
With their previous outing against Damac still dominating conversation, Jaissle was keen to ensure his players did not fall into the same trap — namely, being caught off guard by an opponent’s unexpectedly proactive style.
To his relief, Al-Ahli were largely in control this time. Yet the absence of Mahrez limited their creative spark. Relying heavily on Wenderson Galeno down the left, Al-Riyadh did well to crowd the Brazilian and deny him space to operate.
The bane of any expansive side is a compact 5-4-1, and that is precisely how Al-Riyadh’s recently appointed Brazilian manager Mauricio Dulac set his team up. A long-time assistant to former Al-Riyadh coach Odair Hellmann, this marks Dulac’s first managerial role.
Al-Ahli’s attacking routes were severely restricted throughout the first half. Al-Riyadh denied them the opportunity to press high, Mahrez’s trademark diagonals were absent, and finding Ivan Toney in the six-yard box proved a difficult task.
On the rare occasions the visitors broke the defensive line, Milan Borjan stood firm in goal — there was no getting past the Canadian.
That was until first-half stoppage time. Al-Ahli had one more weapon in their arsenal: set-pieces. A lofted delivery from Galeno’s free-kick met the head of Roger Ibañez, who nodded the ball towards goal. Borjan pushed it away, but it was too late — the ball crossed the line.
VAR intervened within seconds. Ibañez was a shoulder offside, and the opener was chalked off. It was a notable twist, particulary as the simultaneous fixture between Al-Fateh and Damac in Al-Ahsa featured a celebration aimed squarely at Al-Ahli and VAR.
Earlier in the week, Damac equalised late against Al-Ahli via Yakou Méïté, only for the goal to be overturned. Méïté reacted angrily and lashed out at referees, but Al-Ahli escaped with the three points. Méïté followed up with a goal against Al-Fateh, and celebrated by mimicking the referee’s VAR signal.
Back in Riyadh, Al-Ahli returned for the second half with renewed intensity. Zakaria Hawsawi grew more adventurous from left-back, threading lofted balls over the Al-Riyadh defence.
In the 53rd minute, he found Toney behind the last defender, but the Englishman’s volley was adeptly saved by Borjan. Five minutes later, Galeno latched onto Hawsawi’s cross and thought he had broken the deadlock — only for the linesman’s flag to rise once again.
Al-Ahli pushed, but as time ticked away, it seemed the coveted winner would elude them. However, once again, set pieces proved decisive.
In the 75th minute, a corner from Saleh Abu Al-Shamat was parried by Borjan, only for his effort to be bundled into his own net, sending the travelling supporters into a frenzy.
After last week’s scare, Al-Ahli knew they had to finish the job. Cue Ibañez, who surged forward from deep before slipping the ball through to Toney to seal the game with what would have been his 24th goal of the season. The run itself deserved a goal, but Toney was flagged inches offside.
Despite another difficult outing, Al-Ahli did enough to secure a clean sheet and grind out a 1-0 victory to move top on 59 points — one ahead of Al-Nassr, who are yet to play this weekend.
Elsewhere, Méïté’s equaliser was later cancelled out by a 77th-minute Mourad Batna penalty, in a match that saw fans commemorate him for surpassing 100 goal contributions with Al-Fateh.
Batna had earlier missed from the spot to the frustation of the home fans, but Al-Fateh’s undefeated streak against Damac at home remains intact as the encounter ended 1-1.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Friday, with Al-Hazem hosting Al-Ettifaq, Al-Ittihad welcoming Al-Khaleej, and one of Riyadh’s top derbies in Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal. All games kick-off at 10:00pm, in the league’s unified Ramadan schedule.
