A few hours ahead of facing Bangladesh in the tournament opener, Indian cricket star Virat Kohli opened his heart on the kind of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 that makes his heart dance, how it’s pretty much like the T20 World Cup, which India last won a year ago. The biggest clash of the ICC Champions Trophy will be between arch-rivals India and Pakistan on February 23. India will start its campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, and its last league match will be against New Zealand on March 2.
While speaking to Star Sports, he stated: “First of all, it has been a long time we have played the Champions Trophy. Honestly, I have always liked this tournament a lot. Because, it is a representation of how consistently you play cricket for a year or two. When you are in the top eight rankings, that is when you get this reward for playing this tournament. So, a level of competition is always good in this. And I remember this was a very competitive tournament.”
“And the last time we played an opening match against Bangladesh in the ICC tournament (World Cup 2011), it was good for us since we won the tournament. So I have some fond memories of that.”
“And, like I said, if you apply T20 World Cup pressures into ODIs, it is pretty much the same. Because you have 3-4 matches there as well. So if you do not start well, then there is pressure on you. So I think the first couple of games are very vital. You must start convertible performances in this tournament. That’s why I like it. The pressure builds from the first match, so you must be at your best,” concluded.
Among tournament history’s highest run-getters since his debut in 2009, Virat is at position eleven. In 13 matches and 12 innings, he has scored 529 runs at an average of 88.16, with a strike rate of 92.32. Among Indians, he is the third-best with Rahul Dravid (627 runs in 19 matches and 15 innings at an average of 48.23; six fifties) and Shikhar Dhawan (701 runs in ten innings at an average of 77.88; three centuries and three fifties). The tournament’s leading run-getter so far is West Indies icon Chris Gayle, with 791 runs in 17 innings at an average of 52.73, with three centuries and a fifty). His highest score is 133*.
Virat was recently on the pitch for the ODI series against England.
He missed the first ODI due to a knee injury and scored five and 52 in the other matches.
Virat will look to remedy a long-standing form slump when the Champions Trophy kicks off on February 19.
Last year ended with just 655 international runs in 23 matches and 32 innings for Virat, averaging 21.83 with one century and two fifties. His highest score was 100*.
