Finally, a ton! Virat Kohli hits a century after 1,020 days

Virat Kohli celebrates his century against Afghanistan. Pic/Getty Images

The first indication that this might be Virat Kohli's night came when Ibrahim Zadran at deep mid-wicket parried a straightforward offering off a pull from Mohammad Nabi over the fence. Opening the batting for the first time in this Asia Cup after skipper Rohit Sharma sat out the inconsequential last league game against Afghanistan, Kohli was then 28, out of 63 without loss.

At that stage, though, there was no hint of what was in store. Not then, and not even when he breezed to his third fifty of the tournament in only 32 balls as he and stand-in captain KL Rahul brought up India's first century stand.

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Once past his fifty, Kohli switched gears. Effortlessly. Without hitting a stroke in anger. He raced through the 60s, muscled through the 70s, flew through the 80s and hurtled through the 90s, reaching his first century in T20 Internationals with a magnificent pulled six off Fareed Ahmad, the left-arm quick.

A century after 1,020 days

The hundred alone was cause for celebration, because it had taken him 104 matches to reach his maiden three-figure knock in this format. Given, however, that it had been 1,020 days since his last international hundred, against Bangladesh in the day-night Test in Kolkata on November 23, 2019, the knock assumed special significance, coming as it did just five weeks before India's first match of the T20 World Cup, against Pakistan on October 23.

Kohli greeted bringing up the landmark with a smile that smacked more of relief than delight. Relief at having got the monkey off the back, relief that ‘when?' would no longer be on the lips of every fan.

Having reached his 100 off 53 deliveries - he took just 21 for his second fifty - Kohli went into overdrive, unleashing strokes of subliminal brilliance that took a sparse gathering's breath away. This Kohli wagon-wheel will make for fascinating watching - no part of the ground was spared, no bowler treated with generosity, no stroke unaccounted for. This was vintage Kohli, the glorious stroke-maker whose bat produced the most mellifluous music with the minimum of effort.

KL Rahul shines too

Kohli's knock completely eclipsed a return to run-scoring ways of Rahul, who shed his diffidence of all tournament long with a lovely half-century off his own. The skipper and the former captain put on 119, but that was almost incidental in the larger scheme of things. And oh, for the record, India amassed 212 for 2.

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