As Virat Kohli neared his century against Pakistan, India's Axar Patel turned into a human calculator, crunching numbers and silently praying he didn’t edge the ball at the other end, all to make sure the superstar reached his milestone.
Axar walked in to bat with India needing 19 runs to win and Kohli unbeaten on 86.
"At the end, actually main bhi thoda maths kar raha tha unke hundred ke liye (Even I was doing the math for his hundred towards the end). I was hoping that I don't edge the ball or something. So, it was quite fun," Axar said in video posted by ICC. However, Shaheen Afridi bowled three wides in the 42nd over, making Kohli’s path to the century a bit trickier.
At one point, Axar was even booed for taking a single, as fans wanted Kohli to get maximum strike.
With Kohli stranded on 96 and India needing just two runs to win, skipper Rohit Sharma cheekily gestured for him to finish the game with a six. Acknowledging the call, Kohli, instead of going for a maximum, elegantly drove the ball to the boundary to bring up his hundred in style.
"It was the first time I got to watch a high-pressure game from the dressing room where Virat bhaiya scored a century. I had a lot of fun, and the way he was running between the wickets after fielding for 50 overs is a testament to his fitness," Axar added.
With dominant wins over Bangladesh and Pakistan, India are all but through to the Champions Trophy semifinals.
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