If 2025 had a personality for Team India’s ODI cricket, it would be calm, ruthless, and occasionally poetic. The Men in Blue didn’t just win matches; they controlled narratives. Eleven wins from fourteen games (a 78.57% success rate) tell one story, but the real tale hides inside individual innings that bent games to India’s will.
The time period did not involve simply slogging away or piling up defensive totals. Rather, this was a time of mastering situations, determining whether to absorb the opposition’s pressure, how to build momentum, and when to mentally exhaust the opponent.
Virat Kohli: Authority Under Pressure
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli’s 135 off South Africa in Ranchi was more than a century; it was a willow-wrapped reminder. After an early fall of a wicket, Kohli selected control over chaos, building a 173-minute innings with classic placement and modern power.
His strike rate of 112.5 wasn’t reckless; it was calculated dominance. Eleven fours kept the field spread, seven sixes punished any attempt at containment. More importantly, Kohli dictated tempo while allowing Rohit to play the perfect supporting role in a 136-run partnership.
This knock echoed Kohli’s greatest ODI virtue: batting as insurance. India posted 349, won by 17 runs, and once again proved that when Kohli bats deep, scoreboards stop being negotiable. In a year where he averaged 65.10, this innings stood tallest because it arrived exactly when India needed certainty.
Rohit Sharma: Experience Over Ego
Rohit Sharma
Sydney – an unnecessary match in a lost series – but still, with a score of 121* (off 125) against Australia, Rohit Sharma has shown one of the most composed centuries of this year’s ODI cricket. This hundred was not about making news headlines; it was about technique.
In pursuit of 237 runs, Rohit did not take advantage of the opportunity to play aggressively from the beginning. He allowed the ball to tell its own story as well as allow the bowling team to show their strengths before he produced his trademark shots. The thirteen fours and three sixes that Rohit hit were all natural and all unavoidable.
Rohit’s unbroken partnership with Kohli at 168 felt almost like a class in how to bat for senior partnerships, much like the days when India were chasing down runs in ODIs in the early 2010s. With a strike rate of nearly 97, he demonstrated how a player can control his tempo and show that in a world of explosive batsmen, a man’s experience will win you games.
Yashasvi Jaiswal: The Arrival Moment
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Every generation announces itself with a statement. For Yashasvi Jaiswal, that moment came in Visakhapatnam. Opening in Shubman Gill’s absence, Jaiswal’s unbeaten 116 against South Africa was less about flair and more about maturity.
He worked to battle through some early pressure from the bowlers and established a 155-run partnership at the top of the order with Rohit Sharma. In this partnership, he demonstrated a blend of precision (12 fours) and strength (2 sixes) using an aggressive approach to “shift gears” and move up another level. The way he formed partnerships throughout the match (first with Rohit Sharma and then with Virat Kohli) showed that he was much more than a young player, playing only one ODI.
This wasn’t a cameo. It was a blueprint. Jaiswal proved he could anchor, adapt, and finish three skills that define long-term ODI success. By the end, the chase felt procedural. That’s the highest compliment a batter can earn.
Key Takeaway
India’s top three ODI knocks of 2025 weren’t flashy highlights; they were lessons in control.
FAQs
- What made Virat Kohli’s 135 special in 2025?
It combined tempo control, power hitting, and match-winning context under pressure.
- Why is Rohit Sharma’s Sydney hundred significant?
It showcased how experience and composure still dominate successful ODI chases.
- How did Yashasvi Jaiswal’s century signal his arrival?
By proving he can anchor and finish chases, not just attack instinctively.
Disclaimer: This blog post reflects the author’s personal insights and analysis. Readers are encouraged to consider the perspectives shared and draw their own conclusions.
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