Cricket
Why Virat Kohli kissed his ring after scoring the 71st century
Virat Kohli dedicated his century in the Asia Cup - his first in 1021 days - to his wife Anushka Sharma and daughter Vamika.
The long wait for Indian cricket fans ended as Virat Kohli mastered his way to the long-awaited 71st century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022 on Thursday. Kohli scored an unbeaten 122 off 61 balls as India scored 212/2 in 20 overs.
Virat Kohli celebrated his century by kissing his wedding ring and acknowledging the crowd and his dressing room.
He later explained his celebration, "I know there was a lot of stuff going outside. And I kissed my ring. You see me standing here because one person has put things in perspective for me. That's Anushka. This hundred is for her and for our little daughter Vamika as well. When you have someone next to you having conversations putting things in perspective, like Anushka has been..."
This was Kohli's first century since the birth of his daughter Vamika.
Kohli himself was shocked at the century in this format.
He said, "Last two and a half years have taught me a lot. I am going to turn 34 in a month. So those angry celebrations are a thing of the past," said Kohli at the innings break. "Actually I was shocked. This is the last format I thought. It was an accumulation of a lot of things. The team has been open and helpful."
His long-time mate South African legend AB de Villiers also tweeted after his century.
Virat Kohli, who struggled with his form in the last three years, scored his last international century way back in 2019. He took a one-month break before the Asia Cup 2022 saying that he needed to find some of his motivation back.
