
India ended their Asia Cup 2022 campaign with a big win over Afghanistan on Thursday evening (September 8). The biggest takeaway from India's consolation win was Virat Kohli's much-awaited 71st international century as the former skipper slammed a mouth-watering 61-ball 122 not out, laced with 12 fours and 6 sixes at a whopping strike-rate of 200.
Kohli hadn't scored a century across formats since late 2019. Since then, he contributed with a lot of crucial knocks but failed to get to the triple-figure mark. Against Afghanistan, India's star batter Virat went all-out, after settling in, as he opened the innings with stand-in captain KL Rahul in Rohit Sharma's absence. With his ton, the whole of India breathed a sigh of relief despite the national side's forgettable Asia Cup campaign. Rohit & Co. will now hope for Kohli to continue in a similar stead and go bonkers in the T20 World Cup 2022 edition, from October-November in Australia.
After mauling Afghanistan, Indian captain Rohit and Virat got together for a special interaction, on BCCI tv, where Hitman told his predecessor that his 'form is very critical to Team India'.
When Rohit asked about his brilliant ton, Kohli said,"I did not expect this. Even you mentioned after the match that nobody would have expected me to score a century, especially in this format. I am pleasantly surprised and I am grateful and honoured right now." Later in the chat, Rohit told, "Your form is very critical to our team. We all understand that. And also, you being around certain guys, does help a lot as well."
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Kohli further highlighted the team goal and added, "It was a very special day for us as a team. After the last game, we had spoken about the kind of attitude with which we need to play this match. This was an important tournament for us. We got the exposure of knockout matches, we got the exposure of facing pressure situations. But we know what's our main goal, which is the World Cup in Australia and we all are improving in several areas for the same. We will learn from our mistakes from the matches which didn't go well for us."
India will now shift their focus to hosting Australia and later South Africa, in white-ball series, where they will look to iron out their flaws ahead of the T20 WC Down Under.