'He's back with the bang' - Virat Kohli sends cricket world in jubilation with much-awaited 71st century

The wait is finally over as Virat Kohli has smashed his much-awaited 71st international century, his first since November 2019. The former Indian skipper dismantled the Afghanistan bowlers all over the park and brought up his maiden hundred in T20 Internationals. Notably, Kohli was enduring a lean run of form prior to the Asia Cup 2022. Many fans and experts even wrote him off as Kohli was failing regularly.

However, he finally brought his A-game out in the continental tournament and ended his century drought. It must be noted that Kohli opened India’s innings against Afghanistan as regular skipper Rohit Sharma was rested. The Men in Blue got off to a flying start as Kohli and stand-in captain KL Rahul attacked bowlers from the outset.

The duo added 119 runs for the first wicket before Rahul departed for 62. However, Kohli didn’t put his guards down and shifted gears even further. He eventually crossed the three-figure mark in the 19th over as millions of fans around the world breathed a sigh of relief. Kohli also brought out a special celebration as the monkey came off his bag.

Virat Kohli registers the highest score by an Indian in T20Is

Meanwhile, the 33-year-old remained unbeaten till the end and walked back after scoring 122 runs off 61 balls, highest for an Indian in T20Is. His innings comprised of 12 boundaries and six maximums. Notably, Kohli has now joined Ricky Ponting as batter with second-most centuries in international cricket (71). Sachin Tendulkar continues to top the list with 100 tons.

Speaking of the contest, Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. As both teams have been knocked out of the competition, there’s nothing at stakes in the game and Kohli played fearlessly. Riding on his brilliance, the Men in Blue posted 212/2 in their allotted 20 overs and would back themselves to defend the target.

 Meanwhile, let’s look at how Twitter celebrated Virat Kohli’s century:

#ViratKohli𓃵
That's it, that's the tweet. 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/hmzUScDynx

— Kuldeep yadav (@imkuldeep18) September 8, 2022

Champions always back with a bang.Congrats to @imVkohli the all time 🐐 in my https://t.co/3hRRxghUWr thing was missing and he did it in style. 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/9UouvXmmEx

— Mushfiqur Rahim (@mushfiqur15) September 8, 2022

Finally 💯 well played brother @imVkohli ✌️#kohli @BCCI @delhi_cricket pic.twitter.com/SzKT90i6Mu

— Parvinder Awana (@ParvinderAwana) September 8, 2022

Maiden T20 century , so happy for you @imVkohli You totally deserved it🔥 Immense respect for such a brilliant innings #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/H1EVC1N86A

— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) September 8, 2022

I literally want to cry 😭 finally 71st century has come in grand style 🤩🤩🤩😭overwhelming inning #ViratKohli𓃵 #moderneragreat

— Chetan Sakariya (@Sakariya55) September 8, 2022

When I spoke to him yesterday I knew something was brewing💪
Well played my friend

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) September 8, 2022

Well done champion kohli @imVkohli happy to see you getting a 100 👏 #indvsafghanistan #AsiaCup2022

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 8, 2022

Nothing can buy this respect.. this is what a cricker plays for. A brilliant hundred @imVkohli. We Hope we don’t have to wait so long for your 72nd century. #IndvsAFG pic.twitter.com/p65KDdOtKo

— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) September 8, 2022