Virat Kohli has stormed back to form with a scintillating maiden T20I century, ending the wait of 1020 days for his 71st international hundred, when he smashed 122* off 61 balls against Afghanistan to end his and India’s Asia Cup 2022 campaign with some positive note.
Kohli finished the tournament as the second-leading run-scorer – 276 runs in 5 innings (Mohammad Rizwan finished with 281 runs in 6 innings) at an average of 92 and strike rate of 147.
How long will Virat Kohli’s good form last this time?
While on one hand, fans and experts are hoping for this new good form of Kohli to continue for a long period and hailing this as a beginning of a new era in the 33-year-old’s career – former Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi is recommending Virat Kohli to retire soon on a high, instead of when it comes to a point that Kohli gets dropped!
Afridi, whose most retirements had come from a point of low, suggests Kohli bow out of the game on a high point rather than when his form dips again.
“The way Virat has played, the start that he had to his career, there was struggle initially before he made a name for himself. He is a champion and I believe there comes a stage when you are headed towards retirement. But in that scenario, the aim should be to go out on a high,” Afridi said on Samaa TV.
“It shouldn’t reach a stage where you are dropped from the team and instead when you are at your peak. It seldom happens though. Very few players, especially cricketers from Asia make that decision, but I feel when Virat does it, he will do it style and probably in the same manner in which he started his career,” the former all-rounder added.
Well, clearly Kohli is in no mood to hang up his boots anytime soon; before the Asia Cup, he’d said he’s feeling fresh and into the right perspective after he’d had a month-long break.
Before the T20 World Cup in October in Australia, India will host Australia and South Africa for 9 white-ball matches; Kohli has been named in the squad for both T20I series. This gives Kohli further game time to rectify the chinks in his game before the mega showdown in Australia.
