Irfan Pathan analyzes Virat Kohli’s approach against Proteas’ tactics in IND vs SA 2025 1st ODI

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has showered praise on Virat Kohli after India registered a 17-run win against South Africa at the JSCA International Sports Complex, Ranchi, on Sunday. Kohli was able to hit the ground running, and Pathan highlighted that the veteran batter didn’t look back after hitting a six in the long-off region in the Powerplay overs.

The former swing bowler noted that South Africa’s opening bowling pair, Nandre Burger and Marco Jansen, were getting the ball to swing and bounce, but Kohli was able to counter it with guile. 

Kohli went on to score a magnum opus knock of 135 runs off 120 balls with the help of 11 fours and seven sixes. This was the 52nd ODI century for Virat Kohli and he went past Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of hundreds in the 50-over version.

Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “The ball swung in the powerplay overs, Nandre Burger’s pace and Marco Jansen’s bounce troubled the batters. But Virat Kohli looked comfortable right from the outset. When Kohli was batting, he looked in a different zone. I don’t think I have seen this bounce in Ranchi, so he negated that challenge. Since the time he played the straight drive, he didn’t look back.”

“South Africa then created a game plan, they kept Marco Jansen at short mid-off and they asked him to hit there, else to open the face of the bat because left-armers want to take the ball outside the angle and want to see him play through the cover region. That’s why the fielder was there.”

“But Kohli said, ‘The field is yours but game is mine.’ He then started playing aerial shots. The last time he hit two sixes in the powerplay was in 2017. But overall, he struck seven sixes and the most he has hit in an innings was 8. He hit the fast bowlers for sixes from the crease and stepped out to the spinners for maximums. The attacking approach was sensational to see. But the highlight of the innings was hitting for a six over point.”

The second ODI between India and South Africa will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur, on Wednesday.