Asia Cup 2023

‘The burden has been finally lifted off his shoulders’ – Ravi Shastri draws light on Virat Kohli’s 71st century

The Former head coach of India Ravi Shastri was very delighted to see Virat Kohli getting a century after a gap of almost three years or 1021 days. It was Kohli’s 71^st century and first ever in the T20I format. While speaking about Virat Kohli’s superlative knock in India’s final game of the super four stages in the Asia Cup 2022 against Afghanistan, Shastri said that the load is finally off Kohli’s shoulders.

Virat Kohli had been going through a bad patch of form for quite some time, but things changed like magic in the Asia Cup 2022 and the talismanic batter found his way back into the groove. He finished as India’s leading run scorer with two half-centuries and a century under his belt. Wishes poured in from all over the globe as the entire cricketing fraternity was happy seeing Kohli playing as solidly as ever and he also got back into the game with a twinkle in his eye.

“You mentioned 1020 days, I can say 700 days I was in that dressing room when that happened. It’s a long time. The monkey is off his back now. When you had astounding success like he has when 70 hundreds come like this, then you go through a patch of one, two years, two-and-half years, two-and-three quarter years, and then everyday people start reminding – ‘It’s been that long’. He is human. It would have been eating him up. He would be getting up every morning, whether thinking of it or not, subconsciously being reminded,” said Shastri while speaking to Star Sports.

The former India coach and team director added that Kohli will be less burdened now that the pressure of reaching a century has finally been lifted. Shastri added that the final 40 runs of Kohli’s knock against Afghanistan were when he truly switched gears and played like he has always done in typical Virat Kohli fashion, without any fear or pressure.

“Today, I think he will be five kilos less. Don’t ask me where the weight has gone from, five kilos less at least from the head. You could see from the last 40 runs of his innings. It was Virat Kohli. His trademark shots, the confidence, the poise, the utter disdain for bowling is back. It took a long time coming,” Shastri added.