5. 122(61) v Afghanistan, Dubai 2022
India’s win was facile as they have already been knocked out of the tournament, but they ensured to make it memorable and shatter a few records before leaving.
1) Virat Kohli equalled Ricky Ponting’s tally of 71 international hundreds as he struck his 71st century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022 fixture. He now sits only behind Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 centuries.
2) Virat Kohli has now become the fourth Indian batter to have scored tons in all three formats. Suresh Raina was the first one to do so followed by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
3) Kohli scored 122* against Afghanistan which is the highest individual score by an Indian in T20Is. He surpassed Rohit Sharma’s 118 which came against Sri Lanka in Indore back in 2017.
4) Virat Kohli scored his first century after 1,019 days in all professional cricket.
5) Virat Kohli’s 122* against Afghanistan was his first ton after 129 innings across formats in all professional cricket. This includes 83 at the international level and 46 in the Indian Premier League.
6) Bhuvneshwar Kumar registered figures of 5/4 in his spell of four overs. This was the first instance of a bowler taking a five-wicket haul against Afghanistan.
7) India won the match by 101 runs. It is the second-highest victory for India in T20Is in terms of number of runs. Their best win came in a T20I against Ireland in 2018 – by 143 runs.
8) Kohli’s 122 was more than Afghanistan’s team total of 111. This was the first instance of an Indian batter outscoring the opposition team’s total.
4. 183 (148) v Pakistan, Mirpur 2012
Kohli scored his highest-ever ODI score to date in an Asia Cup match in Mirpur, in 2012. Chasing a mammoth 330 to win the important clash against its arch-rival and Kohli stepped in to demolish Pakistan.
He stepped onto the crease in the very first over, after India lost Gautam Gambhir for no score, and joined talisman Sachin Tendulkar to construct the chase. He smashed the Pakistan bowlers to all corners of the park, hitting 22 fours and a six as India comfortably chased the target with 13 balls to spare. Kohli was dismissed for 183 of just 148 balls but India reached the finish line with six wickets to spare.
3. 72* (44) v South Africa, Mirpur, 2014
South Africa had never lost a T20I after posting a score in excess of 170 to this point, and after making 172 in the 2014 T20 World Cup semi-final, even the pessimistic Proteas fans may have thought they’d finally broken their well-documented curse at ICC events.
Kohli had other ideas, and the master went to work in the middle overs. Manipulating the field, the right hander’s 72* from 44 balls is all the more remarkable given the fact he hit just 32 runs in boundaries.
Needing 40 off the last four overs after losing Yuvraj Singh, Kohli was met by Suresh Raina. Just one of the three dot balls in his innings came at the death, and the consistent flow between him and his partners moved India to victory with five balls remaining.
“Today was one of those days when I had to keep my cool,” after accepting the Player of the Match trophy.
“In T20s, I look at the target in number of runs and overs to go, not runs and balls to go. Overs makes it look easier.”
2. 82* (51) v Australia, Mohali, 2016
The only knock perhaps to rival the Melbourne heroics, it was Kohli’s efforts in a crucial 2016 T20 World Cup match that hammered in the point of Kohli’s chasing prowess.
Taking on Australia in a quasi-quarter-final, India were set 161 for victory, with the required rate in the chase climbing over 10, and eventually close to 12 with four overs left.
Kohli timed his run to perfection though, taking 19 runs off the 18th over from James Faulkner, and 16 of Nathan Coulter-Nile. Faulkner returned, though Kohli clubbed him into the leg-side to tie a bow on his 11-boundary performance.
“You need challengers every game, they improve you as a cricketer,” Kohli said.
“This innings has to be in my top three, perhaps the top right now because I am a bit emotional.”
1. 82* (53) v Pakistan, Melbourne, 2022
No stage is bigger than an MCG with more than 90,000 people, and it took every bit of a Kohli masterclass for India to prevail over their rivals.
Kohli came to the crease in the second over when KL Rahul (4) fell to Naseem Shah, and after a Powerplay of 31/3, and 31/4 straight after with the loss of Axar Patel, Pakistan were in the ascendency.
Kohli never quit, and with Hardik Pandya, sort about a counter.
The pair put on 103, and set up a final assault. Pandya fell on the first delivery of the final over, though Kohli carried on, putting Mohammad Nawaz into the stands off a waist high full toss to make it six runs required from the final three deliveries. He smartly ran three byes after the free hit made a mess of his stumps, and watched Ravichandran Ashwin loft over the off-side to deliver victory.
“It’s a surreal atmosphere, I have no words, no idea how that happened. I am really lost for words,” Kohli said in the moments after.
“The calculation was simple. Nawaz had one over to bowl, so if I could take Haris down, they would panic. From 28 in 8, it came down to 16 to 6. I tried to stick to my instincts. The first one was back of a hand slower ball (the one over long-on).”
“Standing here I just feel like it was meant to be. Till today Mohali was my best innings against Australia. Today I will count this one higher.”
