IND vs AFG: No Other Indian Cricketer 'Would Have Survived' Without Scoring A Century For A Long Time - Gautam Gambhir

Virat Kohli scored his triple-digit score after a wait of almost three years. To be precise, Virat ended his century drought with a scintillating 122 off just 61 balls, his 71st international century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022 match on Thursday.

The former Indian captain had to wait for more than 1000 days to reach the century mark. Although he looked in good shape, the triple-digit mark eluded him for a long time. The wait is finally over at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, where Kohli looks like himself, and he smashed bowlers all over the park.

No Other Indian Cricketer ‘Would Have Survived’ Without Scoring A Century For A Long Time – Gautam Gambhir

While praising Kohli’s brilliant innings, the former India opener Gambhir, who has been an active cricket analyst since his retirement believes that no one else, other than Kohli, could have gone three years without hitting a century. The former India opener also stated that Virat had gained the faith of the team management by scoring the number of runs that he scored.

“Look he (Virat Kohli) has to realize that it has been three years (1,019 days), not just three months. Three years is a very long time. I am not going to be critical of him, but he has earned this backing as he has scored loads of runs in the past, “Gambhir told host broadcaster Star Sports after the match between India and Afghanistan on September 8 (Thursday).

“I don’t think any younger player would have survived in international cricket had they not got a 100 in the last three years. This eventually had to happen and it has happened just at the right time. But let’s be fair, I don’t think anyone would have survived for this long,” he added.

The Indian hitter who batted brilliantly scored 122 runs off 61 balls and remained unbeaten. The elegant right-handed batsman hit 12 fours and 6 sixes in his innings.

Men in Blue beat Afghanistan by 101 runs in a dead rubber in Asia Cup 2022 and thanks to a massive performance from Kohli and brilliant bowling from Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5/4) in four overs.

Also read: Asia Cup 2022: “I Feel This Team Is Lacking Consistency” – Robin Uthappa Questions On India’s Playing XI