'I believe that he will perform like champion'- Virat Kohli's childhood coach backs him to perform in CT 2025

The Indian team is set to start their campaign in the Champions Trophy and have already arrived at the Dubai International Stadium and have started their preparations for their first game which will be played against Bangladesh on February 20. 

Plenty of players are featured in the team, but the player to watch out for is legendary top-order batter, Virat Kohli. The Delhi-born batter has not been in the best of form recently and has been struggling to get runs since 2024. Though there are plenty of fans and experts questioning his form Virat’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has backed Kohli and expects him to play like a champion player in the upcoming ICC event bringing up his contributions in the past that have made him the legend he is today. 

“Just because some matches went bad, does not mean the player is out-of-touch. When you look at his previous records, you will see what he did for the country. I believe that he will be performing like the champion player he always has been," said Rajkumar as quoted by India Today.

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Virat Kohli's Champions Trophy record and previous performances

Virat Kohli has great numbers in the Champions Trophy and has scored 529 runs from 13 games at an average of 88.16. He has played some memorable knocks in the tournament, including an important 43 runs he scored in the finals in 2013 and the knock of 96 he played against Bangladesh in the semi-finals of the last edition in 2017.

The last ODI series he played was in the three-match ODI series against England where he scored 57 runs from the two matches he played at an average of 28.50. He scored a half-century in the third ODI in Ahmedabad before getting dismissed by Adil Rashid on the last ball of the 19th over in the first innings.