September 08, 2022, will probably not be remembered by most cricket lovers as the day India seamer Bhuvneswar Kumar bowled the most impeccable 4-over spell that saw him take 5 wickets while conceding just 4 runs.
The fact that India won by an overwhelming margin of 101 runs and that stand-in captain KL Rahul produced a scorching half-century (62 off just 41 balls) is also unlikely to be remembered.
The day will down in history as the day Virat Kohli scored his 71st international century after a wait of over 1000 days.
On Thursday (September 08), India took on Afghanistan in an inconsequential Asia Cup encounter. After being put in to bat first, KL Rahul and Kohli gave India a quick start. Rahul was dismissed in the 13th over but Kohli at the other end kept going.
In the 19th over, with a six over mid-wicket, the 33-year-old whose place in the playing XI was under threat, if critics are to be believed, brought up his first T20I hundred. He remained unabated at 122 off just 61 balls at a strike rate of 200.
SEE ALSO: “Forever with you through any and everything” - Anushka Sharma after Virat Kohli's 71st ton
He thanked his wife Anushka Sharma after the knock and expressed his gratitude for her support throughout some tough moments.
“Firstly I am grateful for how the day went today. Time away from the game gave me a good chance to sit back and observe a lot of things about me. I mentioned one special person – Anushka – who stood by me through these tough times and I mentioned her as she has seen the absolute raw side of me throughout all these months. She was the one putting things in perspective for me, kept giving me the right kind of guidance, vision moving forward and I came back into the system as relaxed person,” he said during the post-match presentation.
The flamboyant hitter made a subtle jab at his critics, claiming that despite consistently scoring 50 or more runs over the period, those runs were still viewed as "failures".
“It was just about enjoying the game, understanding the game and what God blessed you with. Today was the build of the last few games, I batted out of my skin to be honest and I surprised myself. What surprised me was my 60s became failures; quite shocking for me, batting pretty well and contributing but doesn’t seem to be enough. I can’t really pinpoint anything to anyone as I said God has blessed me with good things in the past and that’s why I am in this position where these things can be spoken about.” he stated.
He also spoke about how taking time off cricket helped him put things into perspective.
“I have had many suggestions, lot of advice has come my way; people were telling me I was doing this wrong, that wrong, I picked out all the videos from the best time I had; same initial movement, same approach towards the ball and it was just what was happening inside my head I wasn’t able to explain it to anyone.
“At the end of the day you know as an individual where you stand, people will have their opinions but they cannot feel what you are feeling,” he added further.
He further stated how the environment in the dressing room upon his comeback has been immensely helpful.
“I have absolute no shame in admitting that God is blessing us all with everything in our destiny, we just have to work hard. So I went back to the drawing board, came back fresh and excited. The team environment have had great communication with me, kept me relaxed, and kept my perspective right. When I came back there was not much information coming my way, they just said bat and it was matter of getting into the space of enjoyment”, he signed off.
The Men in Blue’s next big assignment before the T20 World Cup in October is the 3-match T20I series against Australia at home. The series is slated to get underway on September 20.
(STAR SPORTS INPUTS)
