Not Sachin Tendulkar! Kapil Dev Names 36-Year-Old Star As 'Greatest Of The Greats'; Even Better Than MS Dhoni
Photo : AP
India have had a fantastic Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. They defeated Australia in the semi-final by 4 wickets to qualify for their third straight Champions Trophy final, where they will play against New Zealand. The star of the show for India in that match was none other than Virat Kohli. He proved his worth as the chase master, as he smashed 84 runs from 98 balls, as India chased down 265. Kohli has thus completed 8000 runs in ODIs while chasing. Legendary India fast bowler and former captain Kapil Dev has now reserved the highest praise for Kohli.
In an interaction with India Today, Kapil Dev called Virat Kohli 'the greatest of the greats'. Kapil praised Kohli's temperament to win matches, and even placed him ahead of the great MS Dhoni.
"I think he has the temperament to take up a bigger challenge, and that is where he gets the energy. He likes to play like that and very few cricketers have that temperament. But end of the day, he has the talent and the class on how to win matches. We know Dhoni used to do that, but Kohli is one step ahead of anybody else," Kapil Dev said.
VIrat Kohli Slams 84 As India Beat Australia In Semi-Final
Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. Steve Smith led the Aussie innings with a wonderful 73-run knock. Alex Carey also shined with the bat in the lower order as he scored a crucial half-century. Travis Head also gave them a fast start with a 39-run knock from just 33 balls.
Mohammed Shami was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he took three wickets for 48 runs. Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja also shone with 2 wickets each.
India lost the two early wickets of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma, but it was chase master Virat Kohli who pulled them back with a match-winning 84-run knock. Shreyas Iyer played a solid 45-run knock. KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya slammed 42 and 28 respectively, as India won the match by 4 wickets.
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