File photo of Virat Kohli© AFP
Indian smasher Virat Kohli finally got his monkey when he registered his first international hundred after nearly three years apart. However, tons come in format, no one would have thought of. Kohli registered her first ton of T20I on Thursday against Afghanistan in the ongoing Asian Cup Super 4. The hitter’s celebration after bringing home the milestone is proof that he himself was relieved to have scored a ton after so long. However, the former Indian polisher Gautam Gambhir has said that no one can survive without scoring a hundred in three years and it is Virat who has survived by the number of runs he has scored in the past.
“You have to realize that it’s three years, not three months. Three years is a very long time. And I’m not trying to criticize him but he earned it just because he’s had a lot of runs in the past. But I don’t think any young tennis player can survive an international cricket match if they don’t get a hundred in the last three years,” Gambhir said on Star Sports after the India-Afghanistan match.
“Eventually it has to happen and it happens at the right time. You’re just getting close to the T20 World Cup and he’s got a hundred, so he took the monkey off his back. But let’s be fair and be completely honest, I don’t think anyone in the dressing room can survive three years without a hundred. People like Ashwin, Rahane, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were removed. I don’t know a guy who hasn’t been relegated after not scoring a hundred points for three years. It was just Virat Kohli and he probably earned that,” he added.
India captain Rohit Sharma chose to rest in their last Asian Super Cup match against Afghanistan, but Virat kohliopening batting in his absence, breaking his 71st international record and his first in the T20Is.
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Kohli went on to go on an unbeaten run of 122 out of 61 serves while India went on to win 101 wins in Dubai.
While Kohli has had 27 Test centuries and 43 in ODI, he has never hit a ton of T20I before Thursday.
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