After taking a month-long break from the game, the ongoing Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates presents another chance for the great Virat Kohli to reclaim his mojo – if not necessarily break his much-publicised century drought.
The 33-year-old became just the second-ever cricketer, after Ross Taylor, to play 100 international matches across all three formats during India’s five-wicket win over Pakistan in their tournament opener on Sunday. His hard-fought 35 from 34 mixed the good with the mediocre but will hopefully mark the start of a positive period for the former India skipper, who last reached triple digits way back in November 2019.
Since that knock of 136 in the second of a two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Kolkata, Kohli has passed fifty on 22 occasions – but a 71st international century has continued to elude him.
It’s not that he’s been bad – he’s continued to score runs across all formats – but he’s been unable to convert some solid scores into hundreds.
Nobody in the game has achieved what Virat has, and with that comes the added burden of having abnormally high expectations from the public. He’s one of the most celebrated and accomplished athletes in the world and a streak like this was always going to garner intense media coverage.
Virat kohli's ball by ball highlights vs Pakistan in Asia cup 2022.⏩⏩⏩
— Shrey Ambhore (@imShrey1817) August 30, 2022
Part 1: pic.twitter.com/or7tZtzNTk
The Royal Challenger has spoken out about the mental health issues he’s faced during his career, and how this recent 30-day period away from the game marked the first time in over 10-years he hadn’t so much as touched a cricket bat. Let’s hope it’s done him some good and has allowed him enough breathing room to get back to his batting best.
India are well-placed to defend the back-to-back Asia Cup titles they won in 2016 and 2018, with games coming thick and fast over the next fortnight. While the transient nature of T20s means it’s unlikely Kohli will hit what would be a first international hundred in the format, there is hope that he will rediscover enough cadence to take going forward – especially with the T20 World Cup not far off.
