On Tuesday, March 4, Virat Kohli erupted with ecstasy after the second delivery of the ninth over in the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Varun Chakravarthy’s strike in his first over, which removed Travis Head, India’s biggest tormentor, gave Kohli every right to celebrate.
On the middle-and-off channel, Chakravarthy sent up a delivery from around-the-wicket, but Head miscued it to Shubman Gill at long range. With decent ground to the left, the fielder pouched the ball with ease.
Upon the completion of the catch, Virat Kohli, who was fielding at cover, erupted in unbridled excitement, reflecting the joy of all Indian fans in the grandstand
In the past, Head has been a continual threat to India, according to the uninformed. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024–25 was the scene of his most recent accomplishments. Against the Indian bowling team, the southpaw appeared completely at ease most of the time.
He put on his most vicious performance against India in the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad, where he hit a game-winning 137 off 123 deliveries to deny the hosts a third 50-over victory in the ICC competition. His Player-of-the-Match hit of 163 runs in the 2023 World Test Championship final had influenced the outcome before that.
Labuschagne is caught by Jadeja, putting Australia behind three.
Coming to the ongoing game, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. When Cooper Connolly left for a nine-ball duck, they took an early hit. Following Head’s ejection, a 56-run stand by the renowned team of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne stabilized the ship. Ravindra Jadeja’s accurate ball on the wickets trapped Labuschagne LBW for 29, making the latter the most recent wicket to go.
On Sunday, March 9, the victor of today’s match will play either South Africa or New Zealand in the championship match.
India
