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| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA Web Desk |Updated: Sep 09, 2022, 12:10 PM IST
Former India captain Virat Kohli said following his century-making effort against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup Super-Four stage that he had come into the tournament with only one goal and that was to try and work on the things he needed to improve from a team's perspective.
"My only goal (coming into the Asia Cup) was that, all those things I needed to improve from the team's perspective, I will come and try in the tournament," said Kohli, who struck his 71st international century in the massive 101-run victory against Afghanistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday evening.
Kohli's maiden T20I century though came a tad late as India bowed out of the tournament after earlier losses to Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"It was a very special day for us as a team. We had spoken after the previous match (loss against Sri Lanka) that we need to take the field (against Afghanistan) with a positive attitude, as that will matter a lot for us. This tournament was very important for us, definitely. We got the exposure of the knockout stages, we got exposed to pressure situations," added Kohli.
"Our goal, everyone knows, is the (T20) World Cup in Australia, and we are improving in all aspects of the game. We will learn from the matches (here) that did not go well for us," said Kohli.
Rohit Sharma complimented Kohli on his long-awaited 71st international century, saying the batting stalwart picked the gaps nicely and played some delectable shots in his century-making effort.
"71st hundred, the entire country was waiting. The time you have spent playing cricket, I'm sure this milestone was around the corner. I think today`s innings were special because we wanted to end the tournament on a winning note. We saw a lot of things in your innings. You picked the gaps nicely, played some lovely shots and targeted the right bowlers," said Sharma in a video posted on BCCI.tv.
Kohli revealed the month-long break from cricket before the Asia Cup was the first time in his 13-14 years of a professional career that he had not picked a cricket bat.
"Since the time I've come back to the side after the break... after 13-14 years, for the first time I did not touch the bat. A lot of things came into perspective," said Kohli, adding that support from the team played a huge role in his strong comeback.
