Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli notched up 71st International century on Wednesday evening with a maximum over midwicket off Afghanistan pacer Fareed Ahmad at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, in Dubai. The Indian batter showed immense patience of 129 innings across formats in all professional game and waited for 1019 days to equal former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting's record of 71st International century.
Due to Virat Kohli's record shattering blitz knock of 122 runs off 61 deliveries including six maximums and 12 boundaries in the first innings of the match powered Team India to mammoth 212/2 in 20 overs. Apart from Virat, KL Rahul also made immense contribution in the game with his superb 62 off 41 balls.
Post the innings, when Virat Kohli walked towards the dressing room, all his teammates including the coaching staff walked down to the ground to give him a special applause for his historic knock. While, Virat shook hand with everyone and expressed gratitude, he went on saying "Abhi hai cricket baaki" to Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Apart from Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar too performed incredibly well as he rattled Afghanistan's batting line up by taking five wickets in the second innings. Kumar was so lethal on Wednesday evening that he dismissed both the Afghan opener, Hazratullah Zazai (0 off 4) and wicket-keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0 off 1) in the fourth and fifth delivery of the second innings. Karim Janat (2 off 4), Najibullah Zadran (0 off 2) and Azmatullah Omarzai (1 off 6) were the other noteworthy dismissals from the right-arm pacer.