Virat Kohli breaks Azharuddin's 25-year-old record during IND vs PAK clash, takes most catches by an Indian in ODIs

Virat Kohli has several ODI records in his name, and the 36-year-old now has the most catches for an Indian fielder in the 50-over format. On Sunday, the former India captain surpassed Mohammad Azharuddin's tally of 156 catches in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 Group A match against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium. Virat Kohli has now taken the most number of catches for an Indian fielder in ODIs. (AFP)

Only Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene (218) and Australia's Ricky Ponting (160) have taken more outfield catches across all teams in ODI cricket.

Virat Kohli now has 157 catches. The other Indians on the list are Mohammad Azharuddin (156), Sachin Tendulkar (140), Rahul Dravid (124), and Suresh Raina (102).

Kohli broke the record in the 47th over of the Pakistan innings when Naseem Shah played an aerial shot. Naseem Shah chipped the ball towards long-on, and Kohli then charged in from the deep.

The right-hander took a good low catch, which resulted in Pakistan's eighth wicket going down. This was also Kuldeep Yadav's third wicket in the match after he scalped Salman Ali Agha and Shaheen Shah Afridi earlier.

Will Virat get going with the bat?

Virat Kohli has been struggling for runs of late, and it will be interesting to see whether he strikes form in the match against Pakistan in Dubai.

Against Bangladesh, Virat Kohli managed 22 runs before being dismissed by Rishad Hossain. This was the sixth consecutive occasion that the right-hander was sent to the pavilion by a spinner.

Out of these six occasions, five have come against leg-spin. Virat Kohli also disappointed in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he managed just 190 runs in 9 innings.

This poor form also resulted in Kohli going back to the drawing board and playing one Ranji Trophy fixture for Delhi against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Coming back to the contest between India and Pakistan, the latter posted 241 runs before being bundled out. Pakistan had earlier won the toss and opted to bat first.

For Pakistan, Saud Shakeel top-scored with 62 runs, while for India, Kuldeep returned with three wickets. This fixture is a must-win for Pakistan after Mohammad Rizwan and co. lost the opening match against New Zealand in Karachi.

Click here to read article