Virat Kohli delighted his fans with his quickfire 122-run inning against Afghanistan. The former Indian skipper struck his 71st century and ended the Asia Cup on a personal high.
It was over 1000 days since Virat touched the three-figure mark. In the initial days of his lean patch, the experts constantly reminded him of his failure, which somewhat affected Virat and his mental state.
Nevertheless, the 33-year-old had shut his ears to outside noise, but the trolls and criticism didn’t stop until last night when he scored his maiden T20I century.
The right-handed player received the player of the match award for his performance and felt that the post-match interview would be the best occasion to answer and silence those who constantly criticized his failures.
Without taking any names, Virat said he was shocked to be called a failure despite scoring 50+ runs.
“I enjoyed my innings today and surprised myself. Although, one thing I would mention is that when I was not getting a hundred and got out scoring 50s and 60s, I was still called a failure. It was shocking for me. It felt that other than a century, my contributions weren’t enough or praiseworthy.”
Some notable figures like Kapil Dev, Irfan Pathan, and Gautam Gambhir had questioned Kohli’s place in the team. Although, Kohli refused to take names and said,
“I cannot pinpoint anyone. By God’s grace, I am blessed to be in a position to speak about it. “
He concluded by appreciating his wife, Anushka Sharma, for her constant support during his tough times.