After South Africa opted to bowl first after winning the toss, India found themselves in early trouble in the second ODI at Raipur on December 3, 2025. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal fell early as India felt the pressure right from the start of the innings. The scoreboard wasn't moving much when Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad joined hands and slowed the game down before building a steady stand. Both the batters set their focus on strike rotation and punished loose balls to bring India back into the contest. Kohli and Gaikwad Steady the Innings A notable moment came in the 19th over when Corbin Bosch bowled a full delivery. On 19.4, Kohli smashed it straight back past the bowler for four. The shot went so fast that it almost hit Gaikwad at the non-striker's end. The commentary described it as: "smashed! Almost took out Gaikwad at the other end. Kohli walks down and across, converts it into a full pitcher and drills it straight back, very little followthrough of the bat and Gaikwad had to duck to evade being hit. The pair have a laugh after that." Watch the video here: He didn’t just play an on-drive, he bullied the ball.😭🔥 pic.twitter.com/f4jeHOaagz — ` (@RCB_HIvv3) December 3, 2025 Also Read | 3 Big Areas Yashasvi Jaiswal Must Improve to Succeed in ODI Cricket Kohli kept the innings in control and reached his fifty on the third ball of the 25th over. His form in recent ODIs has been strong. His last three ODI knocks before this match were: 74* (81) 135(120) 50* (47) With this, Kohli extended one of his strongest trends in ODI cricket. He now has had 13 different streaks of three or more successive 50-plus scores in ODIs. The next best in the format is Rohit Sharma, with 11, followed by Sachin Tendulkar, with 10. Kohli Heads Toward Another Milestone At the time of writing, Kohli is in the nineties and moving towards what could be his 53rd ODI hundred. His partnership with Gaikwad has set India up for a strong finish after the shaky start. If Kohli continues at this pace, India could end up with a big total in Raipur.