Star India batter Virat Kohli ended a long wait on Thursday before finally scoring his first century in nearly three years. Kohli, who last scored a century in November 2019, scored an unbeaten 122 from 61 balls in the Asia Cup Super 4 clash in Dubai. While India may have failed to reach the Asian Cup final, Kohli’s return to form has been the biggest positive, especially with the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia next month.
Prior to the Asian Cup, several current and former players had questioned Kohli’s place in the team during the showpiece.
However, with 296 runs in five games, Kohli has certainly silenced his critics.
During the post-match presentation, Kohli, who won the man of the match for his blistering knock, said he was “shocked” at how his 50s and 60s punches were labeled “failures” in the time he didn’t hit tons scored.
“What actually surprised me was that my 60s turned into failures, which was very shocking to me. I played pretty well and contributed, but it didn’t seem to be good enough,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony. .
“But like I said, God has blessed me with many good times in the past, and that’s why I’m in this position where these things can be talked about. I’m not at all ashamed to admit that God blesses all of us with everything in our lot, we just have to work hard,” Kohli said.
Kohli added that a fresh start after a break from the sport helped him regain his lost mojo.
“I went back to the drawing board, came back fresh, came back enthusiastic. The team management has also had good communication with me during these times, they have kept my perspective good,” said the former skipper.
“When I came back, not much information came my way, they just said ‘you bat and enjoy’. So it was just a matter of going back to space and enjoying it.”
promoted
“I’ve had a lot of suggestions, a lot of advice has come my way. People told me I was doing this wrong, that wrong, I picked all the videos from the best times I had. It was the same first move, the same approach towards the ball and it was exactly what was going on in my head, I couldn’t explain it to anyone,” Kohli said of recovering his mojo.
“Ultimately, as an individual, you know where you stand and what you need to do for your journey, and people will have their opinion. But they can’t feel what you feel. I’ve felt in a very different way over the past few months, what a very special time in my life. I am very thankful for that time, my perspective had to change to get ahead in cricket,” he added.
Topics mentioned in this article