It Might Be The Last Month Of Me Playing...: When Virat Kohli Hinted He Was Ready To Retire Before 71st Ton

Virat Kohli hit his 71st century against on September 8, 2022. Photo : AP

KEY HIGHLIGHTS Virat Kohli hit the 71st international century of his career in the 2022 Asia Cup

Kohli went almost three years without ton

Kohli has 80 international centuries to his name

8th September marks a special day in Indian cricket, as just two years ago during a 2022 Asia Cup between India and Afghanistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Virat Kohli ended a long wait of 1020 days and scored the 71st international century of his career.

Kohli, who is arguably the greatest batter of the current generation in international cricket and the second-highest century-maker in the history of the sport, hit a lean patch in his career and went a long period without a ton any format of the game. Kohli did not reach the three-figure mark in international cricket after hitting a ton against Bangladesh in Kolkata in November 2019 for almost three years in which he batted for India in 83 innings.

With his ton against Afghanistan, not only did Kohli end his century drought but also became the first player to score a century in the Asia Cup in the T20 format. He also set the record for making the highest individual score by an Indian in the shortest format in international cricket with an unbeaten knock of 122 in 61 balls. The record was later broken by Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

The ton came at a crucial point in Kohli's career where not just the centuries but also the runs had stopped flowing. Just a few weeks before the continental showpiece event, Kohli had a horror tour of England in which he made 76 runs in six innings. Prior to that, Kohli had a miserable season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that year, making just 341 runs in 16 innings at an average of 22.73.

Kohli came into the Asia Cup after taking a one-month-long break, having skippered the Men in Blue's tour of the West Indies. A few months later, Kohli revealed he went into the tournament knowing it could be the last month of him playing competitive cricket.

"The most important factor in that whole transnational period before the Asia Cup last year was the fact that I was willing to let go of everything. I was willing to accept that when I go back and play, it might be the last month of me playing competitive cricket and I am absolutely okay with it," said Kohli in an interview with Robin Uthappa on Jio Cinema.

"Everyone was like we observe this and this is the solution for it. I couldn't get the point across that whatever shortcoming is, there is because of this (pointing towards his head). When you are not right mentally, you are all over the place. There were no technical issues because I have done this for 15 years. It can't be that all went to a standstill and the technical issues pop out right now. When I came back fresh and started hitting the ball again and people were like 'oh you made some serious changes'. But I didn't pick up the bat for six weeks," Kohli added.

However, Kohli proved why he is regarded among the greatest players to ever play the game with a special turnaround in fortunes. A month after the ton in Dubai, Kohli played one of the greatest innings in cricket history against Pakistan (82 not-out) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to help the Men in Blue win a nail-biting clash against their arch-rivals in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Kohli finished as the highest run-getter in both the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 Cricket World Cup. In the latter, he also won the Player of the Tournament (POTM) award after scoring 765 runs in 11 innings, which included three centuries and six half-centuries as India reached the final. Later, he won the Player of the Match (POTM) award in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup to ensure the Rohit Sharma-led side ended a 11-year wait to lift an ICC trophy.

From September 2022 to November 2023, in a gap of just 14 months, Kohli hit 10 international centuries, which include two centuries in Test cricket and seven in ODIs. As things stand, he has 80 international centuries to his name and nearing Sachin Tendulkar's incredible record of 100 tons.

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