When Fareed Ahmad was bowling that 19th over in the India-Afghanistan match last night, he knew nothing was going right today as he could see a ruthless man on the crease with a bat. On the second ball of his over, the man did what 1.4 billion people were waiting for 1020 days. With that six, Virat Kohli completed his century, which everybody knew was more than just runs. After the match, Virat Kohli also expressed surprise at how even his 60s were touted as his failures during the past couple of years.
“Today was the build of the last few games, I batted out of my skin, to be honest, and I surprised myself. What surprised me was my 60s became failures; quite shocking for me, batting pretty well and contributing but doesn’t seem to be enough,” news agency PTI quoted Kohli after the win.
The former Indian skipper played a significant inning in a ‘not so significant match’ and smashed an unbeaten 122 runs in just 61 balls. His innings led India to register a record victory of 101-run over Afghanistan in the inconsequential Asia Cup match.
Before Asia Cup, Virat took a month off from the game as he knew that technically nothing was wrong with his game.
“I have had many suggestions, a lot of advice has come my way; people were telling me I was doing this wrong, that wrong, I picked out all the videos from the best time I had; same initial movement, same approach towards the ball and it was just what was happening inside my head I wasn’t able to explain it to anyone,” he said
“At the end of the day you know as an individual where you stand, people will have their opinions but they cannot feel what you are feeling.”
Kohli also expressed that he never expected to achieve his long-awaited century in the T20 format.
“Last two and a half years have taught me a lot. I am going to turn 34 in a month. So those angry celebrations are a thing of the past,” said Kohli at the innings break.
“Actually I was shocked. This is the last format I thought. It was an accumulation of a lot of things. The team has been open and helpful.”
Virat also credited his wife Anushka Sharma for standing behind her like a rock during tough times.
“I know there was a lot of stuff going outside. And I kissed my ring. You see me standing here because one person has put things in perspective for me. That’s Anushka. This hundred is for her and for our little daughter Vamika as well.
After the celebrations from last night’s inconsequential victory, the star Indian player and the whole team need to go back to the table to brainstorm on what went wrong in this Asia Cup. As T20 World Cup is due in October, this Asia Cup defeat can also work as fuel to ignite the passion of players and perform their best in the World Cup.
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