Cricket
WATCH: Virat Kohli reaches his 71st century in style
Virat Kohli scored his first-ever T20 century and ended a more than 1000-day drought for an international century.
Virat Kohli after scoring his 71st century. (Source: Twitter/ ICC)
India convincingly won their Asia Cup match against Afghanistan in the Super 4 stage by 101 runs. While the victory itself is commendable, a certain Virat Kohli's heroics with the bat will certainly be the main talking point of the game.
The ace batsman reached his 71st century and celebrated it with an air of class and gratitude. Kohli had been receiving a lot of flak regarding his inconsistent form, but with this innings, he has surely reaffirmed the fact that class is permanent.
Watch the magical moment here as Virat pulls one for a six to score his century:
His unbeaten effort off 61 balls got him his first hundred since November 2019 and 71st overall, equalling Ricky Ponting's tally of international centuries. He is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar in the all-time list. It was also Kohli's maiden ton in the shortest format.
With Rohit Sharma being rested for India's final game of the tournament, stand-in skipper K L Rahul (62 off 41) and Kohli shared an entertaining 119 off 76 balls for the opening wicket. Kohli started toying with the field and bowlers towards the end of the innings, enough indication that he was back to his best.
With India at 87 for no loss in 10 overs and Kohli on song, India looked set for a massive total. It was raining boundaries in the last five overs as Kohli reached the elusive three figure mark with a crisp pull shot off pacer Fareed Ahmed.
He took his helmet off, hugged his teammate Rishabh Pant and smiled in disbelief before kissing his necklace as part of his celebration. He ended the innings in style by smashing two sixes and a four off Fazalhaq Farooqi to push India past 200.
The disdain with which he hammered the bowlers and his nimble feet movement showed 'King Kohli' was well and truly back. Another stroke that displayed Kohli's supreme confidence was when he stepped out to loft the wily Rashid for a maximum over deep midwicket. Kohli is no stranger to the opening position and after his sensational effort, the case for keeping him at the top alongside Rohit has also been opened.
(With PTI inputs)
