Former Indian head coach, Ravi Shastri has said that the monkey is finally off former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli’s back after he hit his first T20I century against Afghanistan on Thursday. Kohli smashed 122 runs off just 61 balls and it was his first international century since 2019. The ton from the star batter helped India to register a huge 101-run win over Afghanistan to close their Asia Cup campaign on a high.

Speaking to Star Sports, as quoted by NDTV, Ravi Shastri said that the monkey is finally off Kohli’s back. The former India coach also said that the century drought would have been eating him up from the inside.

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Elaborating the same, Ravi Shastri said, “You mentioned 1020 days, I can say 700 days I was in that dressing room when that happened. It’s been a long time. The monkey is off his back now. When you had astounding success like he has when 70 tons come like this, then you go through a patch of one, two years, two-and-half years, two-and-three quarter years, and then everyday people start reminding – ‘It’s been that long’.”

He further added, “He is human. It would have been eating him up. He would be getting up every morning, whether thinking of it or not, subconsciously being reminded.”

The former India coach also said that the pressure of scoring an international century is finally off for Kohli and he will be feeling lighter in his head. Shastri also said that he saw the real Kohli during the last 40 runs of his innings against Afghanistan.

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Ravi Shastri explained, “Today, I think he will be five kilos less. Don’t ask me where the weight has gone from, five kilos less at least from the head. You could see from the last 40 runs of his innings. It was Virat Kohli. His trademark shots, the confidence, the poise, the utter disdain for bowling is back. It took a long time coming.”