Asia Cup 2022: 1020 days wait between Virat Kohli 70th and 71st century

Virat Kohli smashed his 70th international ton in the Test match against Bangladesh on 22 November 2019. His form at that time made everyone believe that he would surpass master blasters' record of 100 centuries without breaking a sweat. 

But the story of legends always has some ups and downs. Let's take you through the journey of King Kohli from his last ton to his 71st century.

2019

After scoring 136 as his 70th ton against Bangladesh, he scored unbeaten 94, 70* and 85 against West Indies across different formats. By the end of the year, he already had seven hundred, 14 fifties and a healthy average of 64.60 in international games. 

2020

In 2020 he played eight series against Sri Lanka, Australia, and New Zealand. In 22 matches played, he scored seven times, 50+. Missed century three times by 11 and 15 runs across all three formats against Australia. Virat still scored 842 runs in that calendar year. While he was doing decently well in T20Is and ODIs, his most scoring format (Test match) took the backseat, drastically decreasing his average to 36.60. 

2021

Like 2020, having played 24 matches, he still averaged 37.07 runs. Fetching ten half-centuries and remaining unbeaten at 73, 77 and 80 in T20Is against England, he couldn't bring his ton. Failure in the World Cup and inability to convert his big scores into hundred overshadowed all of his crucial contributions to the team's score.

2022

Starting the year with a score of 79 against South Africa in a Test match, the year saw him taking multiple breaks and rests from the game. Getting dismissed for an under 20 score in 12 of the 24 innings raised questions about his inclusion in team India's squad for Asia Cup and even World Cup. But the patience and persistence paid off after looking in good touch with the bat in this Asia Cup. He scored an unbeaten 122, the most-awaited century after 1020 days.  

In 83 innings played after the 70th century, Virat Kohli had 26 half-centuries. Seventeen times he scored to 60-plus and, on many occasions, got even close to a century. 

Unfortunate runouts, low bounce balls trapping for LBW and outside edge kept him away from his 100. Virat scoring a couple of fifties in three-match series or even 50s in both the test innings was not considered a good knock according to his standard. 

After getting his 71st international ton, Virat Kohli calmly said, "What surprised me was my 60s became failures; quite shocking for me, batting pretty well and contributing but doesn't seem to be enough".

Virat Kohli also became the third India to score 24k runs in international cricket.

The doubts were building over his inclusion and form; everything had vanished once and for all. Virat Kohli is now in his best form, and the upcoming T20I World Cup will see the king rule again.

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