1021 Days Later, Virat Kohli Gets International Century!

Hey you critics, where you at?! The King has done it. He’s got the monkey off his back. He’s ended Asia Cup 2022 with a bang, ending a super long period without an international century. We’re talking about none other than the former Indian captain Virat Kohli who propelled India to a decent position in their clash against Afghanistan but more importantly, he’s got an international century after what felt like ages.

And if we are to do the math for you, it’s exactly 1,021 days after he last lifted the bat to the crowds to celebrate a century at the highest level. You can break it down to 2 years, 9 month, 16 days or even 33 months and 16 days since his last ton which came at Eden Gardens, in the 2nd Test against Bangladesh, on 22 November 2019. Three waves of Covid-19 have come and gone since then, to put it into perspective!

Virat Kohli scores century after 1,021 days

It’s the first time in ages that Virat Kohli has scored with crowds yelling all across the world, reaching this milestone for the first time since stadiums had Covid-19 restrictions. Kohli fans across the world have celebrated every century of his like it’s their own achievement and finally, he’s raised his bat for his 71st international century, bringing up his maiden T20I century in their final game of the Asia Cup.

100+ T2- internationals and this would’ve been the format he least expected to get this format after nearly three years. India batted first against Afghanistan and he helped them get to 212/2 in their 20 overs. He came out opening the batting with Rohit Sharma being rested today, and the world was overjoyed with this move. He ended with 122(61)* in this innings, coming back after a 6-week break.

Virat Kohli poor form ends

Months and years have passed and the ton never came, but when it did today, social media went crazy. Fans and critics both united as Kohli played the knock of his life today, even though India are out of the Asia Cup. With all the drama and uncertainty around him about his poor form, his lack of international trophies, no centuries and of course, him being sacked as captain a few months ago.

Recently, we spoke about Kohli’s poor form which included 2_ years of no century and for the first time after 10 years at the highest level in 2020, he scored less than 1,000 international runs in a calendar year, and then that continued in 2021 as well. Surely, this is the year for Kohli’s comeback?! A century here is definitely good signs for India at the 2022 T20 World Cup! (Virat’s YoY runs between 2008-2021)

Here’s the moment he got to his 71st international century:

The moment Virat Kohli silenced his critics and smashed his 71st century and also his maiden T20i hundred. pic.twitter.com/OkzRAWDzqr
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 8, 2022