During the drinks break of India's chase, KL Rahul was seen encouraging Virat Kohli to stay at the crease until the end. At that time, India needed 65 from 60 balls against Australia when Rahul took the role as an aggressor in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai. In the next five deliveries he faced, Rahul smashed a four and a six to ease the pressure off Kohli and then rotated the strike to the star batter with India requiring 40 from 45 to win. Kohli was just 16 runs away from his 52nd ODI ton.
Despite being in control throughout the chase, Kohli attempted an ill-advised slog sweep against Adam Zampa and ended up caught at long-on. His uncharacteristic dismissal left KL Rahul visibly frustrated at the non-striker's end.
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"Main maar raha that naa (I was going after the bowling)," Rahul told Kohli as he walked past him.
Even coach Gautam Gambhir looked upset after Kohli's dismissal and was seen mumbling some words to the support staff along with the players seated alongside him.
After the match, KL Rahul revealed his conversation with Kohli. "When I walked in and when I played 10-12 balls I told him that you're the batter that needs to go on and be there till the end. And let me try and hit or let me try and take one chance an over. Because like you said we only needed 6 runs and over. But 6 runs and over on that wicket seemed like 8-8.5. So, you had to take one chance and over, one boundary or one six," Rahul told Star Sports.
"So, I told him that I will do that and why don't you just rotate the strike and be there because you're the set batter and it might be harder. If you get out another set batter comes it becomes a lot more harder. But yeah, he felt like it was in his range to hit and yeah he didn't time it well."
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Rahul remained composed, finishing unbeaten on 42 off 34 balls and sealing the victory with a six on the first ball of the 49th over. This win propelled India to their fifth Champions Trophy final. Hardik Pandya chipped in with a brisk 28 off 24 before his dismissal.
Despite one mistimed shot, Kohli delivered an outstanding performance, forging a vital 91-run partnership for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer (45) after the early departures of Rohit Sharma (28) and Shubman Gill (9).
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