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Virat Kohli's 71st Century: Methods That Helped Him End His Hundred Drought

Anurag Dasgupta

How Kohli scored his 71st century [Source: @desi_cool_boy/x.com] How Kohli scored his 71st century [Source: @desi_cool_boy/x.com]

On this day, three years ago, Virat Kohli broke his century jinx and smashed his 71st international century as the drought ended against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022 edition. From November 2019 to September 9, 2022, Kohli was eluded of an international century as the batter witnessed a great slump across formats.

However, on September 8, in a T20I match vs the Afghanistan side, Kohli ended the drought with a magnificent ton, which helped India win the match. Cricket fans know how he scored a terrific hundred to finally get a sigh of relief after a lot of struggle, but they do not know the process and the grind that allowed the champion batter to achieve the milestone.

Factors that led to Kohli scoring his 71st century

Before the Asia Cup 2022, India toured England for a one-off Test and a white-ball series, and the former India skipper endured a nightmare as he failed to deliver the goods across formats and looked a pale shadow of his former self. In 2 matches, he only scored 33 runs, at an average of 16.50, and experts wanted him out of the squad.

However, what Kohli did next was unimaginable. Not many Indian cricketers have the guts to take a break from cricket and reflect on their failures, but the Delhi boy did just that. In between the England tour and the Asia Cup, he took a break from the game, and this helped him to rejuvenate.

Secondly, in an earlier interview, Kohli stated that during the break, he didn’t touch his bat even once, as the cricketer spent time away from the game, and it helped him to stay away from negativity. He realized how mentally and physically tired he was and the break allowed him to enjoy the game again without the desperation to score a century.

Before the Asia Cup and during the England tour, Kohli was eager to achieve the century milestone, but in the Asia Cup, he didn’t play for records, but rather let the bat do the talking, and as a result, he achieved his 71st ton.