Dubai 9 Sep : Former India captain Virat Kohli has said he is “come back to his old style” after his blistering century that was unbeaten against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup Super-Four match at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday evening.Kohli who was struggling with his form and had been unable to hit an unbeaten century since November 2019, issued warnings to other teams ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November.
He scored an unbeaten 61-ball 122 in the process as India beat Afghanistan by 101 runs.
The 33-year-old who scored his first T20I ton and his 71st all-time international century declared, “I’m happy, especially from a team perspective of perspective I’m happy to be back playing in my style, as I played for a while.I had been avoiding because I wanted to do something that did not fit in my style, but I’ve returned to my pattern.”
The stalwart batting player said that when he is able to get into that area, he has the capability to increase his score in 10 to 15 balls.
“My goal was that If I can get into that zone and stay at ease in my zone, I could increase my speed in the following 10-15 minutes.”
India captain Rohit Sharma who was not a part of the Super-Four game against Afghanistan with the team being led by KL Rahul, also praised Kohli and said that his innings was an “perfect illustration of how to craft your game”.
“In T20, we talk about big hitting and all of that.This (Kohli’s innings) was an excellent illustration of how to craft your innings without being too focused on big hits,” Sharma told BCCI.tv.
Kohli admitted that large hitting wasn’t his main strength and that he relies on his good cricketing skills and finding the gaps to construct his innings.
“Definitely my goal was to be able to play in all the three formats.I put my faith in good cricketing shots.
I went to every series or tournament thinking that six hitting was not a major strength of mine.I can hit boundaries when the situation calls for it but I’m more adept in identifying gaps or hitting boundaries.
So that’s why, as long as I am able to hit several boundaries, it’ll serve the needs of the team.
“And I informed the coaches, and also that I’m going attempt to hit the gaps in the field instead of thinking T20 cricket’mein strike rates uppar le jana hua haemin chakke hi marne challenge’ (If we need to increase the strike rate and we need to increase the strike rate, then six-hitting isn’t the only choice),” said Kohli.
Kohli said that the most important factor in his success after the break of a month from cricket was to squelch the notion that only big hits can increase the rate of scoring.
“So I removed the template out of my system in this event and it was very helpful.
It helped me get back to my standard.However, ultimately it’s about being in the right place and enjoying your batting .it’s true that we are able to play in various ways.The team has been in the game for quite a long period of time and my position in the team is to assume responsibility according to the situation.
If the situation requires that I raise the scoring rate.I ought to be able to do this,” added Kohli.
akm/
