OTD: Virat Kohli notched his 71st International century against Afghanistan during Asia Cup 2022

On 8 September 2022, the whole of India went crazy as Virat Kohli broke his century drought across all formats by hitting the 71st international century. It came against Afghanistan in the 11th match of the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai. However, that century came after a long gap of 1021 days and eventually, that was Kohli’s first T20I century.

20-20 was the least favorite format for him to break this drought. So, it was an overwhelming moment for him and his fans to see him putting an end to that 1021-day-long drought. Speaking of the match, it was a dead-rubber match as both Team India and Afghanistan were already relegated. 

Virat Kohli scored that century from 53 balls

After winning both matches in the group stage, India suffered losses against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the ‘Super 4’ stage. Afghanistan also lost to both of them and as a result, the Men in Green and Lankans were the finalists. Meanwhile, KL Rahul was captaining the side in that clash as the regular captain, Rohit Sharma took a break. So, Virat Kohli came out to open along with Rahul. For the first wicket, they put up a 119-run partnership in 12.4 overs. Rahul got out for 62 runs off 41 balls but Kohli continued to play delightful shots. 

The former Team India skipper notched up his fifty from 32 balls and then, scored his first-ever T20I ton in 53 balls. In the end, he remained not out on 122* runs off 61 balls as India scored 212 runs for two wickets in 20 overs. In reply, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took five wickets for just four runs in four overs as the Afghans scored only 111 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs. Hence, India won the game by 101 runs and Kohli bagged the Player of the Match award. He was also the highest scorer for India and the second-highest scorer in that tournament with 276 runs in five innings, at an average of 92.