Virat Kohli has returned to form in the Asia Cup with two half-centuries and a century to silence his critics. The batting maverick ended his century drought with his maiden T20I ton on Thursday in a dead rubber against Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2022. The 33-year-old ended up as the leading run-scorer for India in the ongoing Asia Cup with 276 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 147.59.
Kohli looked in total control against Afghanistan and remained unbeaten on 122 runs off 61 balls which was laced with 12 fours and 6 sixes. He took his time while opening the innings in the absence of Rohit Sharma. However, he just unleashed himself on the bowlers after scoring his half-century and converted it into a triple-digit score for the first time in T20Is.
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The batting maverick talked about his batting template with skipper Rohit Sharma in a chat after the match. Kohli told the skipper about the self-realisation he had that he should stick to his tried and tested “template” where six-hitting isn’t always a priority.
“I banked on good cricketing shots and six hitting is not a big strength of mine. I can (hit sixes) if situation demands but I am better at finding gaps and as long as I can hit many boundaries, it will still serve the purpose,” Kohli told Rohit in a conversation on BCCI.tv
In fact, he had told Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour about his process.
Kohli revealed that he had chat with the coaches about his process as the 33-year-old feels that he should bring his old template back in the game.
“I told coaches that I will find the gaps rather than trying to hit big. It is not always that in T20 cricket, to get the strike-rate up, you need to only hit sixes. I got that out of my system and I am back with my template,” the master batter said.
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He further admitted that about desperately trying to do things which wasn’t the ideal batting template for him.
“My role in the team is to take responsibility as per situation and also take the scoring rate higher. If I can take 10-15 balls to settle down, then I can accelerate. I was going away from my template and desperately trying to do things which are not in my game,” he admitted.
But in terms of his technique and mindset, Kohli told Rohit that he hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary.
“You know me well. We have played together for such a long time. If we are in good head space and continue being there, we will perform. The dressing room is a scared place for both of us and now it’s about carrying the good habits into the upcoming series,” he added.
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