Team India’s veteran batter Virat Kohli faced a rough patch for a significant part of 2022, which eventually led to him taking a month’s break in August-September. When he returned, Kohli not only returned a better batter but also ended more than a two-year-long wait for an international ton as well. He hit his 71st ton against Afghanistan in the 2022 Asia Cup, which was also his first in the T20 format of game.
Following his ton, Kohli admitted that he never thought the century would come in T20Is as well; in the seven months since Virat Kohli has scored four more tons and went past Australia legend Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest centurion in cricket history as well. During an interview for Puma’s ‘Let There Be Sport’ programme, Kohli recalled the moment when he ended his century drought against Afghanistan and shared that the ecstasy of his hundred merely lasted two seconds.
“The ball before I got to the 100, is the time I felt, oh I am on 94, I could probably get this. And the next ball went for six. But the thing is that as soon as I go the 100, I laughed so hard. I was like, ‘main iske liye ro raha tha 2 saal se? (Was I cribbing about this for 2 years?),” Kohli said in the episode, which is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
“Like just for this 2 seconds, I let myself go through that? That moment happened, it ended. Next day, the sun goes up again. It wasn’t going to be forever. It’s not like I scored this 100, and I live this moment for the rest of my life. It was so funny, I laughed so hard. I was like, this is all that it,” Virat Kohli again said.
When the interviewer asked Kohli whether he really cried after that century, he shared there were tears when he spoke to his wife, Anushka Sharma.
“Not in that moment, but when I spoke to Anushka… (there were tears),” said Kohli.
Virat Kohli, who is just three short of equalling Tendulkar’s record of most ODI centuries in the world, when he was asked about his thoughts on reaching that milestone, he quickly said, “It will be a very emotional moment for me.”
