Did Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan deliberately give away extra runs to stop Virat Kohli from century?

Virat Kohli added another jewel to his crown as the 36-year-old star smashed his 51st century and first in the Champions Trophy ever. The ton was also special for Indian fans as it came against Team India's arch-rivals Pakistan when they are even hosting the tournament. However, when the Men in Blue were chasing an average total at the Dubai International Stadium, some Indian fans felt that Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan and pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi deliberately gave away extra runs to stop Kohli from conceding a century.

India won the high-voltage game against Pakistan by six wickets and are almost through to semis in the 2025 Champions Trophy. But when it was almost done for Pakistan and the Rohit Sharma-led team was on the verge of clinching victory, Virat Kohli was also closer to his 51st century.

It was the 42nd over when Shaheen was handed the ball and on the third ball, the Pakistani bowler bowled a wide which even the wicketkeeper Rizwan missed and went on to give away three extra runs to the Indian side. The next ball also went outside the tramline and was signalled wide by the umpire. Shaheen again bowled a wide, the third one of the over, which captivated boos from the crowd as well.

Here's how netizens reacted

Rizwan left that ball deliberately to
stop Virat Kohli from century
Shaheen bowled 3 wides

Unreal low level people

— Riseup Pant (@riseup_pant17) February 23, 2025

Pakistan played the cheap cricket today at last they wanted kohli not to cross 100. But unfortunate god was with us he did his 82nd hundred and throw pakistan out from champions trophy INDvsPAK #ChampionsTrophy2025#ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/SvRPmY4N8I

— Ujjawal Beniwal (@UjjawalBeniwal) February 23, 2025

However, in the next over (bowled by Khushdil Shah), Virat completed his ton in style by stepping down to the pitch of the ball and slapping it over the covers for a boundary.