5 records Virat Kohli broke during his unbeaten 122-run knock against Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2022
Virat Kohli silenced his critics by playing one of the best T20I innings in cricket history on Thursday (September 8) in the Asia Cup 2022. Opening the innings for India against Afghanistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Kohli aggregated 122 runs off 61 balls to help the Men in Blue finish with 212 runs on the board.
He got a chance to open the innings in Rohit Sharma's absence. He made the most of the opportunity and brought up his maiden T20I ton. It was his first international century since November 2019, ending a drought of 1021 days.
The star Indian batter shattered multiple records during his 122-run knock. Here is a compilation of the top five records broken by him on Thursday.
#1 Virat Kohli now has the highest individual score by an Indian in T20I cricket
As mentioned above, Kohli scored 122 runs from 61 balls against Afghanistan. His innings consisted of 12 fours and six sixes.
Courtesy of this knock, Kohli now holds the record for the best score by an Indian in a T20I match. The previous highest was 118 by Rohit Sharma, achieved in a T20I against Sri Lanka at the Holkar Stadium on December 22, 2017.
#2 He became the oldest Indian to score a T20I hundred
Oldest Indian to score a T20I hundred:
33y 307d - Virat Kohli
31y 299d - Suryakumar Yadav
31y 190d - Rohit Sharma
#INDvAFG #AsiaCup
Earlier this year, Suryakumar Yadav became the oldest Indian to score a T20I hundred by touching the three-figure mark in a game against England. He was 31 years and 299 days old when he scored the century.
Kohli broke his record at the age of 33 years and 307 days (as on Thursday). He is now the oldest Indian batter to score a T20I hundred.
#3 Fastest to 24,000 runs in international cricket
Fastest to reach 24000 runs
522 - Virat Kohli*
543 - Sachin Tendulkar
565 - Ricky Ponting
573 - Jacques Kallis
590 - Kumar Sangakkara
596 - Rahul Dravid
668 - Mahela Jayawardene
#INDvAFG https://t.co/15EJNONHVo
Kohli also breached the 24,000 international run milestone in Dubai. The Indian batter had 23,880 runs to his name across all three formats before the match against Afghanistan.
His aggregate stands at 24,002 runs after his innings against Afghanistan. He broke Sachin Tendulkar's record for the fastest batter to 24,000 international runs by accomplishing the feat in 522 innings.
#4 Most fours by a batter in an Asia Cup T20I innings
The Asia Cup T20I was introduced in 2016. Bangladesh's Sabbir Rahman scored 10 fours in a match against Sri Lanka during the inaugural edition of the T20I Asia Cup.
Kohli broke Sabbir's record on Thursday by hitting 12 fours. The Indian batter also broke Babar Hayat's record for most runs through fours and sixes in an innings. He aggregated 84 runs from his 12 fours and six maximums, bettering Hayat's tally of 78 from his innings against Oman in the Asia Cup 2016.
#5 Fastest to 71 international centuries
Finally π₯
Least Innings taken to Score 71 100s
522 - Virat Kohli*
523 - Sachin Tendulkar
652 - Ricky Ponting
#INDvsAFG https://t.co/vj0oSiV2Zm
Sachin Tendulkar registered his 71st international ton in his 523rd innings, while Ricky Ponting achieved the feat in his 652nd innings. Kohli went ahead of both batters on the list of batters with the least number of innings taken to get to 71 international hundreds.
As mentioned earlier, it was his 522nd innings in international cricket, making him the fastest to 71 international hundreds.