[WATCH] When Virat Kohli ended his century drought after 1021 days and broke into laughter in Asia Cup 2022
Virat Kohli recorded his maiden T20I century on September 8, 2022, during a Super Four encounter at the Asia Cup against Afghanistan. The ace batter got a huge monkey off his back as the match-winning knock ended his prolonged 1021-day drought without a century.
Kohli scored his 70th hundred during Team India's first-ever home pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens. No one had envisioned that the 71st ton would take such a long time to arrive. The COVID-19 pandemic played a role as well, but Kohli looked far from getting to the three-figure mark over the span of three years, barring a few select occasions.
2022 was a rough year for Kohli as it began with a mediocre home season, followed by a horrid England tour. He was not part of the Indian squad that toured West Indies and Zimbabwe prior to the Asia Cup and took a complete break from the game.
He ended up as the tournament's second-highest run-getter even though India failed to make it to the final. It truly marked the re-arrival of the batting genius and the hundred against Afghanistan was a huge milestone to stamp his authority.
Led by KL Rahul in the absence of Rohit Sharma in the dead-rubber contest, Kohli was promoted to the top of the order. He scored an unbeaten 122 runs off just 61 deliveries, comprising 12 fours and six sixes, one of which helped him reach the three-figure mark.
Instead of breaking into wild celebrations, considering the gap between his last two hundreds, he just took off his helmet, stretched his arms out wide, and burst out laughing, with Rishabh Pant at the other end.
While he had scaled the landmark several times over the course of his IPL career, a T20I hundred had always eluded him.
"I batted out of my skin, to be honest, and I surprised myself" - Virat Kohli
Kohli's hundred helped India post a mammoth 212-2 on the board while batting first, following which the bowlers stuck to their task. Led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar's incredible figures of 5-4, the Men in Blue restricted Afghanistan to just 111-8, and wrapped up their Asia Cup 2022 campaign with a win.
The former India skipper was adjudged Player of the Match for his brilliant knock. He said during the post-match presentation:
"I batted out of my skin, to be honest, and I surprised myself. What surprised me was my 60s became failures; quite shocking for me, batting pretty well and contributing but doesn't seem to be enough. I can't really pinpoint anything to anyone as I said God has blessed me with good things in the past and that's why I am in this position where these things can be spoken about."
Will the ace batter come up with something special in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 as well? Let us know what you think.