A TON TO REMEMBER

 

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.

Venue- Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai [8 September 2022].

India was facing Afghanistan in the final super 4 game of the 2022 Asia Cup. It was a dead rubber because both the teams had failed to make their place into the finals. However, this was a game of prestige as everyone wanted to leave the Middle East Shores on a high note. KL Rahul was leading the Indian Side in place of Rohit Sharma. However, it did not change their luck in terms of toss as it was the Afghanistan Captain who won the toss and elected to field first. 

The Duo of Kohli and Rahul opened the Indian Innings. Both of them batted sensibly in the powerplay and laid down the foundation for a huge total. The pair of Kohli and Rahul shared an opening partnership of 119 runs. However, Fareed Ahmmad picked up 2 quick wickets and the Indian Scorecard read 125/2 at the end of 13 overs. This is when Rishabh Pant joined Virat Kohli in the middle. It was needed that Pant and Kohli share a partnership, and this is what they exactly did. However, there was a package of surprise when we saw Pant playing the role of a anchor and Kohli going out on an all-round attack. 

It appeared Kohli was determined to bury the ghosts of bad luck and bad form which has haunted him for last 3 years. On that day Kohli looked unstoppable. It is interesting to note that Kohli did not score an international ton in the last 3 years. However, this time when he reached close to a 100, he did not take singles, rather he hit a six and threw the burden off himself. It was a moment which no cricket fan will ever forget. It was happiness all round as Kohli hit his 71st ton. Due to Kohli's quickfire 122 [12 4s and 6 6s] we managed to reach a score of 212/2 in 20 overs. 

A target of 213 was never going to be an easy task for Afghanistan and the lethal bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar made sure that we wrap up this game without any difficulty. Even though this game did not change the course of Asia Cup, but the same will always be remembered for Kohli's ton.