Virat Kohli ended his more than 3-year century drought in international cricket when he scored 122* against Afghanistan in the T20 Asia Cup in 2022 in Dubai. It was his first ton in T20Is and first in any format after November of 2019 and his 71st in international cricket.
Following his ton, Kohli admitted he never thought the century would come in T20Is; in the seven months since, Kohli has scored four more hundred and went past Australia great Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest centurion in cricket history.
Kohli recalled the moment he broke his century drought against Afghanistan during an interview for Puma's "Let There Be Sport" series, and he confessed that the euphoria of his hundred only 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.
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“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,” Kohli added.
When the interviewer asked Kohli whether he really cried after that century, the 34-year-old batter admitted 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.
During the same conversation, Kohli also admitted that breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries would be an emotional moment for him.
Kohli, who is just three short of equalling Tendulkar’s record of most ODI centuries in the world, said, “It will be a very emotional moment for me.”
Here is the video:
