Virat Kohli He scored his first international century since November 2019 with the first T20I ton for India, which led to Afghanistan’s 101-run defeat in the Asia Cup on Thursday. The star batsman remained unbeaten on 122 off 61 balls to power India 212-2 in Dubai after batting first in his last Super Four match after being knocked out of the tournament. fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar Then returned his T20I best of five for four to help restrict Afghanistan to 111-8 Ibrahim Zadrani not out on 64
But that day belonged to Kohli, who hit a four and a six off the fast bowler. Farid Ahmadi His first India in nearly three years to reach the ton – his last century in a Test against Bangladesh.
His previous best in 103 T20Is since his debut in 2010 was 94 not out.
“The last two and a half years have taught me a lot. I am going to turn 34 in a month (less than two months – November 5),” Kohli told Star Sports after his innings.
He celebrated with a wave of the bat and a smile, saying: “So those angry celebrations are a thing of the past. Actually I was shocked. This is the last format I thought (of scoring a century). It was an accumulation. It was a lot of things.”
Kohli recently spoke about his mental struggles and how he took a month off before this Asia Cup to regain his intensity, which he “fake” during the form’s drought.
“The team has been open and helpful. I know a lot of stuff was going out there,” he said.
“Six weeks off I was refreshed. I realized how tired I was. Competition doesn’t allow that, but this break allowed me to enjoy the sport again.”
Jaded Afghanistan
Called “King Kohli”, he put on a starting stand of 119. KL RahulAfghan bowlers struggled for their second consecutive day on the field after losing to Pakistan on Wednesday to lay the foundation for a colossal total, who scored 62.
Kohli registered his third 50-plus score in the event, which serves as a tune-up for the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November.
Rahul and Kohli hit boundaries in the first six overs and the Indian openers started cautiously before facing the opposition bowlers.
Kohli escaped a catch dropped by Ibrahim for 28 in the deep as the ball went past the fielder for a six and the star batsman completed his half-century in 32 balls.
Rahul completed his half-century by hitting two fours off the captain’s ball. Mohammad Nabiq But fell in the next over.
Farid broke the century stand and bowled two balls later Suryakumar Yadav for six.
The rest of the innings was from Kohli who hit the bowlers all over the field as he surpassed Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 276 from five matches.
The 33-year-old Kohli, who hit 12 fours and six sixes in his scintillating innings, has also scored 27 Test and 43 ODI hundreds in an illustrious career.
The Afghan team looked disheartened after losing by one wicket to Pakistan and being knocked out of the tournament.
Kumar lost four wickets for just nine runs in three overs before Ibrahim put his bat forward and allowed his team to bat in 20 overs.
publicized
Pakistan will play Sri Lanka on Friday with a dress rehearsal for Sunday’s title match.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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