On Monday, during India’s semifinal match against Australia in the 2025 Champions Trophy held at Dubai International Stadium, a surprising moment happened involving Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Rahul showed his frustration when Kohli got out just 16 runs away from his second century of the tournament.
Before batting, Rahul had a talk with Kohli, suggesting that Kohli should focus on rotating the strike since he was already settled at the crease. Rahul wanted to take the riskier shots. When Rahul came in to bat at No. 6, India needed 86 runs to win in 90 balls. After dealing with some early pressure, Rahul managed to score quickly with three fours after the last drinks break.
Unfortunately, during the 43rd over, Kohli didn’t stick to their plan and ended up getting out. This left Rahul visibly upset, leading to his viral reaction of “Maar raha tha na.”
Rahul explained, “I told him to stay there and just rotate the strike because hitting was harder for me. If he got out, it would have been tougher for us.”
Kohli, who later got the Player of the Match for scoring 84 runs, admitted he made a mistake. He explained that he usually sticks to a plan and aims to finish the game quickly, but things don’t always go as expected, especially depending on the conditions of the pitch.
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