Virat Kohli, who completed his 71st international hundred, and first in T20I cricket in Dubai on Thursday against Afghanistan, spoke about the tough times he went through during the century drought.
Kohli, who walked in to open the batting with Rohit Sharma rested, was on the charge from the word go, maximising the Powerplay with some sublime strokes. He moved to 25 off 16 balls after the first six overs and notched up his fifty, the third in the tournament, off 32 balls.
The former skipper went all aggressive after the milestone, bringing up his next 50 runs off a mere 21 balls. He finished on an unbeaten 122 off 61 balls, the highest score by an Indian player in the T20I format.
A relaxed Kohli went on to speak about the challenges during the century drought, a period that lasted more than 1000 days. He had last made a hundred in international cricket in 2019, in a Test against Bangladesh at home.
"I feel very blessed, very grateful right now. Last two and a half years has taught me a lot. I’m going to turn 34 in November, so celebrations are all from the past," Kohli said in the mid-innings chat.
"I have put a lot of things in perspective and, actually I was a bit shocked because this was the format I least expected a century to come any time soon, but it’s all God’s blessings, I have been working hard and this was just a moment which was very special for me and the team as well."
Asked about the thoughts that were going through his mind during the landmark hundred, Kohli lavished praise on his life partner Anushka Sharma, dedicating the hundred to her and their daughter.
"It was an accumulation of a lot of things, as I said, when I came back into the team, the team’s been really open and welcoming and helpful, given me space to work on my game. I know there was a lot of stuff going on on the outside but they really kept my perspective right, and I kissed my ring in the celebration as well.
"You see me standing here like this right now because all the things that have been put in perspective have been done by one person, who stood by me through all these difficult times, that’s Anushka and this hundred is specially dedicated to her and our little daughter Vamika as well."
Kohli elaborated on Anushka's role during the tough times, and underlined that the one-month long break had done him a world of good.
"As I said, when you have someone next to you putting the things in right perspective like I have been, and Anushka has been by my side through all these times .. time away from the game taught me lot of things."
"When I came back I wasn’t desperate, I was grateful for what God blessed me before, people were talking about me not getting a hundred but I looked at how much he has given me already, so that really calmed me down, that relaxed me, I was just happy to come back, six weeks off, I was refreshed, I understood after taking a break how tired actually I was mentally and physically.
"Your competitiveness doesn’t allow you to take that call, but I think it was a blessing in disguise for me. I wanted to be the best version of myself for the team, and when I came here, when I started playing in the nets, I felt like my old rhythm was coming back, it was just about getting those performances in the middle again."
ICC
)
.png "Apology :apology")
