It was an explosive start from Rohit Sharma during India’s run chase in the Champions Trophy 2025 match against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. Chasing a target of 242, Rohit looked in flamboyant form before he was ultimately dismissed for 20 off 15 deliveries. During the second over of the India innings, Rohit took the attack to Naseem Shah as he slammed the fast bowler for a boundary over the slip cordon and then followed it up with a big six over deep backward square. It was a back of the length delivery that was picked early by Rohit as he heaved it for a maximum. The shot left the crowd completely thrilled with the reaction of his wife – Ritika Sajdeh – going viral on social media.
Naseem Shah to Rohit, SIX, disdainful!! A back of length delivery angling onto the thigh pad, Rohit Sharma picks up length early and dispatches that into the second tier beyond deep backward square leg 1.3 Naseem Shah to Rohit, FOUR, good length and at the stumps, Rohit Sharma backs away for a big slash. Gets an edge on it that flies over first slip for a boundary. That’s the way he plays, Rohit shrugs it off as he walks towards his partner as Naseem has his hands on his head!
Coming to the match, Virat Kohli surpassed Mohammad Azharuddin to hold the record for the most catches as a fielder for India in ODIs with 158 catches during the Champions Trophy 2025 Group A clash against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
Ritika Bhabhi cheering for Rohit bhai ❤️ pic.twitter.com/45QBqgANva
— Sonusays (@IamSonu____) February 23, 2025
Kohli, 36, took the catch of Naseem Shah, off Kuldeep Yadav‘s delivery in the 47th over to reach the record. He also went on to take the catch of Khushdil Shah in the final over to better his tally.
Mohammad Azharuddin (156), Sachin Tendulkar (140), Rahul Dravid (124), and Suresh Raina (102) are the others on the elite list.
Kohli, who is also the third-highest scorer in the format behind Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara, is just 15 runs away from reaching the elusive 14,000 ODI run milestone.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Pakistan’s batters got off to a good start but struggled to maintain a solid run rate, with a 104-run stand between Saud Shakeel (62) and Mohammad Rizwan (46) being the only prominent feature of their innings, though it came at a snail’s pace.
From 151-2, Pakistan looked prime to go beyond 250, but India triggered a batting meltdown to bowl them out for 241.
(With IANS inputs)
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