Former India captain and maverick batter Virat Kohli on September 8 (Thursday) finally broke the jinx and smashed his 71st international century in the Asia Cup contest against Afghanistan. This was also the 33-year-old's maiden hundred in T20Is as Afghanistan bowlers suffered from the wrath of Kohli's willow. After his wonderous knock, arguably the greatest batter in contemporary cricket, dedicated his century to wife Anushka Sharma and daughter Vamika.
"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 celebrations as well, you see me standing like this right now and all the things being put in perspective has been done by one person, who stood by me through all these difficult times that is Anushka. This hundred is specially dedicated to her and our little daughter Vamika as well," an elated Kohli said at the mid-innings break.
During his imperious knock, Kohli scored an unbeaten 122 runs in just 61 balls with the help of 12 fours and six sixes. After scoring his first hundred in more than 1,000 days, the maverick batter didn't hold back from admitting what he went through in the last two-and-a-half years.
"It was indeed (the celebrations was worth a 1000 words). Very blessed, very grateful right now. The last two and half years has thought me a lot, I am going to turn 34 in November, so the celebrations are for the past. I have put a lot of things into perspective. I was a bit shocked as this was the format I least expected for a century to come any time soon. It is all God's blessing, I have been working hard and this was just a moment which was very special for me and the team as well. It was an accumulation of a lot of things (on what was going in his mind when he reached the hundred)," Kohli added.
"As I said, since I came back into the team, the team has been open, welcoming, helpful and given me space to work on my game. When you have someone next to you, having conversations, putting the things in right perspective like I have been and Anushka has been by my side through these times, time away from the game has thought me a 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. That really calmed me down and relaxed me. I was just happy to come back, six weeks off, I was refreshed, I understood how tired I was mentally and physically, your competitiveness does not allow you to take that call and I wanted to be the best of version of myself for the team. When I came here, when I started playing in the nets, I felt like my old rhythm was coming back and it was about getting those performances in the middle." the 33-year-old concluded.
