Varun Chakravarthy is known as a leg-spin/googly bowler, but he doesn't fit the traditional mold of a leg-spinner. He mainly focuses on delivering balls that skid through or break into right-handed batsmen, using the classic leg-spin delivery only occasionally.

On Friday night at the ICC Academy ground, Chakravarthy was practicing in the net closest to the spectators, facing off against Virat Kohli. Kohli had just come off impressive scores of 100 not out and 84 in his last three innings during the Champions Trophy.

In One-Day Internationals, Kohli has been dismissed by leg-spin 23 times, which makes up about 9.43% of his 244 total dismissals. As head coach Gautam Gambhir noted, after such a long career, players encounter various types of bowling and ways to get out. While 9.43% seems low, recent stats show that in six of his last eight ODI innings, leg-spinners have been his downfall. This includes bowlers like Wanindu Hasaranga and Jeffrey Vandersay in Colombo, Adil Rashid in Cuttack and Ahmedabad, and Bangladesh’s Rishad Hossain and Australia’s Adam Zampa in Dubai. Kohli has been dismissed leg-before, caught behind, at point, and at long-on during this stretch, but he managed to shake off the leg-spin curse by the time of the semifinal.

Australia fielded two leg-spinners, Zampa and Tanveer Sangha, not just to exploit Kohli's weaknesses but also to take advantage of the pitch conditions at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Kohli handled them well, scoring 23 runs off 24 balls against the seasoned Zampa and 12 off nine against the newcomer Sangha, totaling 35 runs off 33 balls. However, he eventually fell while trying to hit Zampa for a big six, just 40 runs away from victory and 16 runs shy of his 52nd century. This time, it wasn’t the leg-spinner who got him out; it was Kohli himself who made the mistake.

It's Friday night again at the ICC Academy ground. Chakravarthy, charging in with a decent run-up, first got past Kohli’s outside edge and sent his off-stump flying. A few balls later, he found that edge again, and the ball zipped off to where slip would usually be. It’s just one of those things, right? It happens all the time.

But no need to stress. New Zealand, who India will face in the final on Sunday, don’t have a leg-spinner in their lineup. Instead, they’ve got four spinners: captain Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra, both left-armers who spin the ball away from right-handers like a leg-spinner, but with finger action instead of wrist. Plus, they have off-spinners Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips. So, for those worried about Kohli’s struggles against leg-spin, at least this is one less thing to fret about.

Kohli came into the Champions Trophy with some doubts about his form. After scoring an unbeaten century in the second innings of the Perth Test last November, he only managed to pass 20 once in his next seven Test innings in Australia. In two ODIs against England last month, he scored 5 and 52, the latter being a bit shaky but crucial since it was his last competitive outing before the Champions Trophy. He wasn’t at his best with just 22 runs in India’s opener against Bangladesh, but facing Pakistan, a team that’s seen plenty of Kohli’s brilliance, seems to have fired him up again.

Virat Kohli has a fantastic opportunity to strengthen his legendary status

In what could be his final appearance in an ICC tournament—though with him, you never really know—Kohli has a fantastic opportunity to solidify his status as one of the greatest limited-overs batsmen of his generation, if not any generation. Just eight months ago in Bridgetown, he turned around a rough patch at the T20 World Cup with a game-changing 76 in the final, which earned him the Player of the Final award. It was a reminder of how he thrives on the big stage and in high-pressure situations. Nothing gets him more fired up than the grand finale of a major tournament, and in the realm of 50-over cricket, the World Cup is the only event that can rival this.

The last time Kohli sported an ICC 50-over winner’s medal was back in 2013 in Birmingham when India triumphed over England in the Champions Trophy final, which was shortened to 20 overs per side, and he was the top scorer for India with 43 runs. A repeat performance twelve years later would be just perfect.

Read Also: Ashwin Debunks Fake Quote on Virat Kohli's Retirement: 'Creative Storytelling' in the AI Era

Get the latest Bollywood entertainment news, trending celebrity news, latest celebrity news, new movie reviews, latest entertainment news, latest Bollywood news, and Bollywood celebrity fashion & style updates!

HOW DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE? CHOOSE YOUR EMOTICON!