Agar: You Can't Build Pressure on Kohli — That's the Frustration

On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Virat Kohli didn’t just win a cricket match—he broke the psychological rhythm of an entire bowling attack. India defeated Australia by four wickets in the first semifinal of the 2025 ICC Champions TrophyDubai, chasing down 265 with three balls to spare. Kohli’s 84 off 98 balls wasn’t flashy. No explosive sixes. Just five boundaries. And yet, it was devastating. Because you can’t build pressure on him.

Why Bowling to Kohli Feels Like Fighting a Ghost

Ashton Agar, the 31-year-old Australian left-arm spinner, stood in the middle of the field and watched his best deliveries slip through Kohli’s grasp like smoke. After the match, speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Agar didn’t just praise Kohli—he sounded defeated. "That’s the frustrating part," Agar said. "You never really feel like you’re on top of him unless the ball is really spinning. And you don’t get a lot of pitches like that in one-day cricket." What made it worse? Kohli didn’t need boundaries to dominate. He rotated strike with surgical precision. Every single, every glance, every push through mid-wicket kept the scoreboard ticking and the bowlers’ minds spinning. "He doesn’t allow pressure to build," Agar added. "Even when he’s not hitting fours, he’s taking singles. That’s the most frustrating part of bowling to him in one-day cricket." Agar, who bowled 10 overs for 45 runs, knows what it’s like to try and outthink a legend. He’s seen the patterns. He’s studied the tapes. But against Kohli, preparation feels like a starting line—and Kohli’s already crossed the finish.

The Science Behind the Cover Drive

It’s not just about footwork or timing. It’s about micro-adjustments. Agar broke it down: "He has this fantastic ability to hit your best ball—the top of middle stump, slightly spinning away—by holding the bat’s face slightly longer than others do. He opens it at the last second and hits it in the cover-point gap. He’s probably the best in the world at doing that." That’s not luck. That’s biomechanics refined over two decades. Kohli doesn’t just react—he anticipates. He knows the angle, the pace, the drift. He doesn’t wait for the ball to come to him; he makes it come to him. And when the ball is on the perfect line for a wicket, he doesn’t miss. He redirects it.

Compare that to other top-order batters. They wait for loose balls. They attack the bad ones, leave the good ones. Kohli? He treats every delivery like it’s his to command. Even when the field is set for him, even when the bowler’s in his zone—he finds a gap. It’s like trying to cage a hummingbird.

Pressure Points and the Weight of Expectation

India were 28/1 after six overs, having lost opener Shubman Gill for 12. The Australian attack, led by Pat Cummins, had the momentum. The crowd was roaring. The pressure was mounting.

Then Kohli walked in.

And the pressure vanished.

"His ability to rotate strike even against our best deliveries made it nearly impossible to create dot-ball pressure," admitted Cummins in his post-match interview. "That’s fundamental to our strategy in the middle overs. He just… neutralized it." Cricket Australia’s team manager, Gavin Dovey, echoed the sentiment: "We set fields, we planned lines, we tried variations. But he just kept finding the gaps. No matter what we did, he stayed in control." It’s not just about skill. It’s about mental fortitude. Kohli doesn’t flinch under fire. He doesn’t chase boundaries when he doesn’t need to. He doesn’t panic when the wicket falls. He doesn’t need to. He *is* the calm.

Numbers That Define a Legacy

By the time Kohli walked off, he had added another chapter to what might be the most statistically dominant ODI career ever.

• 301 ODIs played (as of March 2025)
• 14,180 runs
• 51 centuries, 74 half-centuries
• 58.11 batting average
• Strike rate of 93.35

But here’s the chilling stat: 24 of his 28 centuries while batting second have come in successful run chases. That’s not just clutch. That’s supernatural.

And in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy alone? Kohli now has 1,857 runs across 36 matches at an average of 66.32. Five centuries. Two semifinal knocks. One final on the horizon.

The Final Door Is Open

India’s third consecutive appearance in the Champions Trophy final is no accident. They’ve been here before—won in 2013, won in 2017, lost in 2021. Now, with Kohli still firing, the ghosts of past near-misses feel distant.

The final, scheduled for Sunday, March 9, 2025, at the same Dubai International Cricket Stadium, will pit India against either England or New Zealand. Whoever emerges from that semifinal on March 6 will face a team led by a batter who makes bowlers question their careers.

"He’s not just a great player," Agar said quietly after the match. "He’s a system. A machine built to absorb pressure and turn it into runs. And we can’t break it."

What Comes Next for Kohli?

At 36, Kohli isn’t slowing down. He’s refining. The days of the flamboyant cover drive are still there—but now they’re punctuated by quiet, relentless singles. He’s playing the long game. The tournament game. The legacy game.

Is he the greatest ODI batter of all time? The numbers say yes. The opposition’s frustration says it louder.