Virat Kohli scores 71st century: 6 unique stats and records 'King Kohli' set during his 61-ball 122

Dubai, September 9: Virat Kohli ended a long wait for his 71st International hundred when he smashed his way to a 61-ball 122 against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 match on Thursday (September 8).

It also helped India post a 200+ total, register a big win over Afghanistan, and bow out of the Asia Cup 2022 with a semblance of relief.

It was also a big relief for Team India as Kohli returned to his big runs ways. Stand-in captain KL Rahul hinted as much.

“Virat scoring runs is a huge bonus for us. He must be pleased with his batting. He has been working on his game since the last 2-3 series and it has come off beautifully. If you play 2-3 innings like this, you get confidence.

“We are happy he could play that way. It is not like he can hit hundreds only when he is opening. If he can bat at number three then also he can score centuries and it is about the role the team wants him to play. Today he played his role beautifully.

“He will play his next role in the next series with good performances, no question mark about that,” said Rahul during a post-match press conference.

“That celebration (by Virat on his century) was more of a relief. There was no difference in his mindset, attitude and work ethic during these last two years or so when he could not score a century.

“It was the same, the desire and passion to win matches for his country have always remained the same for him. But, we are obsessed with numbers. His contributions over the last 2-3 years are still phenomenal. He is still among the top two or three run-getters in white-ball cricket,” he added.

Obsessed with numbers! Rahul had a point when he said that because the numbers Kohli churned out in his peak were mind-blowing.

Kohli did not waver from the tradition either when he toyed with the Afghan bowling for another hundred. So, here we are looking at stats from Kohli’s 71st international century.

Virat Kohli 71st 100 stats

1. Virat Kohli now has 6 T20 hundreds — 5 for RCB, and one for India. All of them were scored while opening.

2. Kohli has played 72 matches between his 70th and 71st international hundreds. M: 72: R: 2708, Avg: 36.10, SR; 73.24, 50s: 26, Hs: 94.

3. Kohli has scored an international hundred after 1020 days.

4. Kohli’s 122 is the highest by an India batter in T20Is. He has surpassed Rohit Sharma’s 118 against Sri Lanka in 2017.

5. Kohli also completed 100 sixes in T20Is. He now has 104 sixes, 9th highest in the format. New Zealand's Martin Guptill has the highest number of sixes in the format —172. He is followed by Rohit Sharma (171), Chris Gayle of West Indies (124), England's Eoin Morgan (120) and Australian opener Aaron Finch (117).

6. Kohli completed 3500 runs in T20I cricket. He is the 2nd batter to achieve the feat after Rohit Sharma. Kohli now has 3584 runs and Rohit is leading the list with 3620 runs.