3 Things India Batters Should Learn From Virat Kohli Despite Big Win vs Pakistan In Asia Cup

Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadv for India - (Source : AFP)

On Sunday, September 14, India locked horns against Pakistan in their second group stage of the Asia Cup 2025. It was a comfortable win for the Men in Blue as they beat Pakistan by seven wickets to put a foot in the Super Four round.

Pakistan, batting first, put just 127 runs on the board, whereas the Men in Blue won the match with 25 balls in hand. Despite the win, it was not a perfect match for Suryakumar Yadav and his men. There were a few areas that needed correction. 

It was an important game for India as they were without their veterans, particularly Virat Kohli, who loved playing against Pakistan. The Men in Blue certainly miss Virat in a few areas, and this article will shed light on the key things that the Men in Blue should adopt from Kohli in his absence in the T20I set-up.

1. Not To Throw Your Wicket Away

T20i cricket has evolved a lot since Virat made his international debut. Earlier, a player used to bat till late and made sure to amass a good individual score. However, in recent times, a coach expects a player to add valuable 30-40 runs in a quick 15 balls. 

Abhishek Sharma from India follows a similar pattern, where he loves to go all guns blazing from the first ball. Even against Pakistan, Sharma scored 31 (13), which featured four fours and two sixes. 

The southpaw could have scored big but threw his wicket away at a crucial juncture to reduce India to 41/2. It was a crucial point in the match, where India couldn't have afforded to lose another wicket. 

In such cases, Abhishek needs to draw inspiration from Virat Kohli, who put a price on his wicket and walked to bat with the intention that he would stay unbeaten until the end of the match. There have been several instances when Virat didn't throw his wicket away against big nations like Pakistan, one such instance being the 2022 T20 World Cup game at the MCG. 

If we look at Kohli's T20I stats, then the right-handed batter remained unbeaten on 31 occasions out of 125 matches. Meanwhile, Abhishek is yet to finish a match being not out.

2. Strike-Rotation In The Middle

Chasing a target of 128 runs, India got off to a flyer as they put 61 runs on the board in the powerplay. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav had the job to score the remaining 67 runs in 84 balls. 

However, in the middle order, SKY and Tilak struggled to rotate the strike, and the run flow stopped. Fortunately, for the Men in Blue, they could afford those dot balls, but it is one area that needs introspection. 

From the 7th over to the 13th over, India played 15 dot balls, which is 2.3 overs out of seven overs, equivalent to 31.25%. The numbers are not bad, but had Virat been there, he would have pushed for more singles and doubles during the middle-order.

3. Play Mystery Bowlers Well

Another area where the Indian batters need to draw inspiration from Virat Kohli is to play spin well. In yesterday's match against Pakistan, The Indian batter scored 23 runs against Shaheen Afridi in two overs ,while, they only managed to seal just 16 runs against Abrar Ahmed, who was Pakistan's most economical bowler of the night.

Looking at Virat Kohli's T20I stats vs pace and spin.

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