Star batter Virat Kohli finally put an end to his wait for his 71st international ton when he registered his first T20I century and he played an unbeaten knock of 122 runs off just 61 balls against Afghanistan in India’s final Super 4 clash of the underway being Asian Cup on Thursday in Dubai International Stadium. Kohli came out to open the battle alongside stand-in skipper KL Rahul while Rohit Sharma rested for this match which was a dead rubber. Rahul and Kohli split an opening score of 119 points, with Rahul also scoring 62 runs off 41 balls.
India then defeated Afghanistan by 101 runs as Bhuvneshwar Kumar took five wickets with the ball.
After the game, KL Rahul was asked by a journalist at a press conference if Kohli can be seen as a lead-off hitter who sees how he performed against Afghanistan and how he fulfilled that role for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.
Kohli has five centuries in the IPL, and they all came as she opened the battle for RCB.
To this question, Rahul replied, “Toh kya mai khud beth jaun? (So what? Should I sit down?)”
Rahul further said it was important for the team that Kohli finds his touch, but added that he can also score points from number 3.
“Obviously Virat’s scoring points is a huge bonus for the team, and the way he played against Afghanistan today, I know he’s very happy with how he hit today. He’s been working on his game and that worked beautifully today. As a team, it’s important for every player to get a timeout in the middle,” said Rahul.
“You get confidence when you play 2-3 innings, very happy he could play like that. You all know Virat Kohli, you’ve been watching him for so many years, it’s not like he’s not going to score for ages until he opens the opening goal.” If he hits number 3, he can also score centuries. It’s all about roles and what role a particular player has,” he added.
“The role Virat had today, he played beautifully. In the next series we play, his role would be different,” he added.
Kohli’s innings in the clash against Afghanistan was littered with 12 fours and 6 sixes. With this century, he raised his first international ton since November 2019. After bringing up the landmark, there was visible relief on the face of the former Indian skipper.
“Of course Virat’s celebration was more of a relief. There has been no change in his mindset, attitude and work ethic in the past 2-3 years. There is no difference in the way he prepares for the competition. He has always had that desire, I think we are also very obsessed with numbers, obsessed with those three numbers and we think, if someone scores hundreds, then only he is in shape. His contributions have been phenomenal in the last 2-3 years,” said Rahul .
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“As a player you always want to be perfect or you want to challenge yourself to excellence, he has always been that player. Even during this phase he has stayed in the moment and worked on his game. That was a learning for our whole group” he continued.
“In that dressing room none of us are surprised to see what he has done today. I am sure this will give him even more confidence. He will of course cherish this 100 and this will also build a great confidence around the group.” he added.
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