Champions Trophy: Kohli Breaks Azharuddin's Record for Most ODI Catches by an Indian

Virat Kohli created a new record by overtaking Mohammad Azharuddin to become the Indian fielder with the most catches in ODIs, with 158 catches.

He did it in the Champions Trophy 2025 Group A match against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

Kohli, 36, completed the feat by catching Naseem Shah off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav in the 47th over. He continued to break the record by taking the catch of Khushdil Shah off the last over.

Azharuddin (156), Sachin Tendulkar (140), Rahul Dravid (124), and Suresh Raina (102) also feature in this exclusive list of Indian cricketers with special catches.

Aside from his record-breaking fielding effort, Kohli is in pursuit of yet another landmark. He is merely 15 runs away from joining the elite list of 14,000 ODI runs, a tremendous achievement, putting him third in the all-time chart of the format's highest run-scorers, only behind Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.

Pakistan, having won the toss and chosen to bat, got off to a good start, but could not maintain the run rate. Saud Shakeel (62) and Mohammad Rizwan (46) shared a 104-run partnership, which was the highlight of their innings, but it was a slow one. Even at 151-2, Pakistan's batting fell apart, and they were bowled out for 241.

In addition to Kohli's record-breaking fielding, Kuldeep Yadav also became the fifth Indian spinner to claim 300 international wickets. The 30-year-old Kanpur spinner reached this milestone after getting rid of Salman Ali Agha for his 300th wicket in the 43rd over, becoming a member of the elite group of Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, and Ravindra Jadeja.

With India requiring 242 runs to qualify for the semi-final, they will be hoping to chase this successfully. The Indian side, captioned by Rohit Sharma, had also chased 229 runs in their first match against Bangladesh at the same ground. They will, however, have to get past the early challenge from Pakistan's deadly left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, young Naseem Shah, and the perilous leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed.