My only goal in Asia Cup was to improve; T20 WC is our target: Virat Kohli

Former India captain Virat Kohli said following his centurymaking effort against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup SuperFour stage that he had come into the tournament with only one goal to try and work on the things he needed to improve from a teams perspective My only goal coming into the Asia Cup was that all those things I needed to improve from the teams perspective I will come and try in the tournament said Kohli who struck his 71st international century in the massive 101run victory against Afghanistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday eveningKohlis maiden T20I century though came a tad late as India bowed out of the tournament after earlier losses to Pakistan and Sri LankaIt 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 KohliAlso Read Asia Cup 2022 Clashes erupt between fans of Afghanistan PakistanKohli however said the main goal was the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in OctoberNovember for which the Asia Cup had given the team several learnings But 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 herethat did not go well for us said Kohli Rohit Sharma complimented Kohli on his longawaited 71st international century saying the batting stalwart picked the gaps nicely and played some delectable shots in his centurymaking effort71st hundred the entire country was waiting The time you have spent playing cricket Im sure this milestone was round the corner I think todays innings was 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 BCCItvKohli revealed the monthlong break from cricket before the Asia Cup was the first time in his 1314 years of professional career that he had not picked a cricket bat Since the time Ive come back to the side after the break after 1314 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 comebackThe support from you people team management the communication was crystal clear that muhje khelne do let me play let me bat I think that was very important for me because the space you all teammates gave me it made me feel quite relaxed in this entire phase And when I returned from the break I was excited as to how I can contribute to the team said KohliKolhi said he had to play the innings he played against Afghanistan in order to contribute more to the teams cause The 33yearold smashed an unbeaten 122 off 61 deliveries against Afghanistan on ThursdayI had to play this kind of an innings as the T20 World Cup is ahead of us If I play well I can contribute more to the team 34 days back Rahul Dravid bhai has spoken to me on batting first and how to optimally utilised the middleovers phase how I can improve my strike rate My only goal was that all those things I needed to improve from the perspective f the team I will come and try in the Asia Cup added KohliKohli said he was pleasantly surprised in fact shocked after scoring his maiden T20I ton first following the enforced breakI didnt really expect it I was in fact shocked like many of you that I would score a century in this format of the game first after such a long time But I was pleasantly surprised and Im very grateful and honoured right now added KohliThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever