Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], September 28 (ANI): Indian batting icon Virat Kohli continued to light up ODI cricket with his new ultra-aggressive yet risk-free approach, producing another century against the West Indies in the first ODI at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
During India's successful 299-run chase, Kohli smashed an unbeaten 139 off just 88 balls, with 10 fours and nine sixes, at a strike rate of over 157. Throughout his innings, the 37-year-old displayed exceptional hitting while maintaining a sense of control and composure, staying true to the style that has defined his ODI career through numerous successful run chases and records.
Ahead of the first ODI, while speaking on JioStar, Kohli spoke about playing more freely, something he said he had consciously worked on after registering two successive ducks in Australia late last year.
“What has changed is, firstly, I promised myself that I am going to play more freely. I am not going to worry about the expectations that people might have around me. My role had always been, for a long period of time, that I'm going to stabilise things," he said.
The right-handed batter acknowledged that while he has always had the ability to play attacking shots, the situation of the game often required him to take a more cautious approach.
"I know I can play, I know I can hit shots. But the demands are such that if it's a tricky situation and you're playing on a tricky pitch, you eventually get into a space where you're like, I can hit, but I've been given a role," Virat said.
The 37-year-old added that he is now making a conscious effort to strike a balance between building an innings and taking calculated risks to add more runs for the team.
"This time, I am making a conscious effort that if I'm set to make a difference in the game, where you can get 30–40 extra runs, I want to stay in a space where, if I'm choosing not to take a risk, it's because I'm setting up eventually to get to a point where I say, okay, now press the accelerator down," the right-handed batter added.
Kohli also highlighted how the changing nature of ODI cricket has encouraged teams to aim for bigger totals, adding that he is willing to take more risks in favourable conditions.
"Now, the game is changing in a way that, especially if the conditions are fast-paced and good, and other teams are looking to push you towards 340–350, we should be able to get 350–360 as well. I am very willing to take risks now because I know that if I make runs there, we'll get 350–360 easily. And if I do that and play longer, then I can hit more at the end," the 37-year-old said. Kohli said.
His statistics post the Champions Trophy win in 2025, which started the final stage of his career as an ODI-exclusive legend, show how Virat has embraced this risk-free approach while also staying true to what brought him into an elite club with his idol Sachin Tendulkar as the second player to score 15,000 ODI runs.
After a double-duck setback in Aussie land, Kohli has bounced back with 899 runs in 11 matches and innings at an average of 112.37 and a strike rate of 114.23, with four centuries and five fifties. His best score is 139*.
Since the Champions Trophy 2025 win, Kohli has scored 899 runs in 13 matches and innings at an average of 89.90, with a strike rate of 112.51, including four centuries and five fifties. Among the top 20 ODI run-getters since CT 2025, Virat has the best strike rate.
Since the Champions Trophy, among players with 500+ ODI runs (with a minimum of 10 innings), no player has scored at a strike rate higher than Virat’s 112.51. Also, nobody has scored as many ODI centuries as he has after the Champions Trophy title win. Coming to averages, only Daryl Mitchell (975 runs in 13 innings at an average of 90.7) averages higher.
In these 11 matches, ‘King Kohli’ has peeled off 28 sixes, the second-most by a batter in the post-CT 2025 period in ODIs among Test nations, with Harry Brook (30 sixes in 18 innings) having the top spot. Among Indian batters, Rohit Sharma (26 sixes) is close second and has taken three more innings than Virat.
During this time frame, Virat has recorded two instances of more than five sixes in an ODI innings, nine against WI at Thiruvananthapuram (his new record for most sixes in an ODI innings) and seven sixes in his 135-run knock against South Africa last year (third-most sixes by Virat in an innings). Only England skipper Harry Brook (11 sixes in a 135-run knock against New Zealand in October last year and nine sixes against Sri Lanka during his 66-ball 136* earlier this year) has outdone him in terms of ruthlessness.
Post CT 2025, Virat has reached the 50-run mark in less than 50 balls (a strike rate of over 100) six times out of nine. In this time frame, Virat has reached the triple-figure mark in less than 100 balls thrice out of four occasions: 90 balls against South Africa last year, in 91 balls against New Zealand earlier this year and 74 balls against WI yesterday. No other batter among Test nations has crossed the century mark above 100 SR and in fewer than 100 balls that frequently since that time frame.
The century against West Indies is also Virat’s third fastest in ODIs as he rolled back the clock to the early 2010s, when he peeled off centuries in 52 and 61 balls respectively against Australia back in 2013 at home.
Since CT 2025, 464 of Virat’s 899 runs (51.55 per cent) have come through fours and sixes, with the batter having hit 74 fours and 28 sixes in 799 balls, averaging a boundary shot every 7.8 balls. His boundary shot-per-ball ratio is much lower than his career figures of 10.12 balls per boundary shot. With around 49 per cent singles, doubles and threes still pump the heart of Virat’s batting and the 37-year-old looks in no mood to abandon this safety net for a flashier boundary percentage.
Despite his more aggressive pace of play, the 799 balls faced by Virat are the best among Indian batters post the CT 2025 win, showing how his presence at the crease still dictates the game.
The last time Virat ended a calendar year with a 100-plus strike rate was back in 2018, when he had a strike rate of 102.55 after having made 1,202 runs in 14 ODIs at an average of over 133, with six centuries and three fifties. Currently at a strike rate of 116.74, Virat looks on track to end the calendar year with his best strike rate ever, unless some spicier, bowler-friendly surfaces and more dangerous situations are served.
Will Virat continue to keep his aggressive intent intact during the second ODI at Guwahati on September 30? (ANI)
Ruthless aggression served with serenity: Kohli walks the talk with ultra-attacking batting approach post CT 2025
