It has been more than 1000 days since Virat Kohli last hit an international century. Ever since that century against Bangladesh in the Pink-Ball Test at Eden Gardens, Kohli has not got to the three-figure mark. While he was scoring half-centuries till February 2022, one such inning has been long due now. Now, as Kohli is returning from a ‘break’ which experts had cited really necessary for him, all eyes will be on the star batter once again.
The 33-year-old will be playing his 100th T20I when he will take the field against Pakistan on 28 August. This will also be a chance for Kohli to redeem himself and shut the critics. Former India coach Ravi Shastri also thinks the same and has said that one half-century in that game against Pakistan will shut the mouths for the entire tournament.
Shastri said that as the batter will be returning from a break, he will come in with a calmer mind. He also stated that whatever Kohli does in the first game will set the tone for the rest of the games and advised the former India captain to seize the opportunity.
"He will come back with a calmer mind because the heat is off. You have been away. Now, what you do will get the tone. He gets a fifty in the very first game, mouths will be shut for the rest of the tournament. What's happened in the past is history. Remember, public memory is very short. So, it works both ways. His opportunity here is to get that calmness and then take it one day at a time," he pointed out.
Notably, Virat Kohli last played against England in the three-match ODI series wherein he departed cheaply. Even in the one-off Test and the three T20Is, Kohli’s batting was offshore. However, the batter decided to take a break and skipped India’s next two tours- the West Indies tour and the Zimbabwe tour.
