India`s stand-in skipper in the Asia Cup Super-Four match against Afghanistan KL Rahul said that even though batting stalwart Virat Kohli was enduring a century drought for nearly three years, his contribution to the team was immense, especially in T20Is. Thanks to the 33-year-old Kohli`s unbeaten 122 off 61 balls on Thursday against Afghanistan, India amassed a mammoth 212/2 before restricting the opponents to 111/8 for a massive 101-run victory at the Dubai International Stadium.

Kohli hadn`t scored a century for India since November 2019, but had scored 1,012 runs at an average of 50.60 in T20Is before registering his landmark 71st international century on Thursday. Kohli was promoted up the order and opened the innings with Rahul. The change worked as the batitng stalwart ended a 1021-day wait by scoring his 71st international ton -- joint second-most across formats -- with Australian legend Ricky Ponting. Rahul felt someone as talented as Kohli can score a century as an opener as well as at No.3 in the order.