"Doesn't matter whether it was 1100 days" - Gautam Gambhir on Virat Kohli ending his century drought in India

Gautam Gambhir has said that it is immaterial that Virat Kohli scored a century on home soil after a gap of more than three years as the Indian batting mainstay played quite a few significant knocks in the intervening period.

Kohli smashed 113 runs off 87 balls in the first ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Tuesday, January 10. His knock helped the Men in Blue set a massive 374-run target for the visitors, and they eventually won the match by 67 runs.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked about Virat Kohli's delight after scoring a century in India after 1143 days, to which he responded:

"Doesn't matter whether it was 1100 days. For me, I think the contributions he has made in the middle were more important than probably this century. All of us might be thinking that it's 1100 days but then he has been among runs. Probably those important runs could be much more important than this hundred."

While acknowledging the importance of Kohli's 45th ODI century, the former Indian opener highlighted that the modern batting great has played even more crucial knocks in the last three years, elaborating:

"Yes, the 45th hundred is a milestone but getting those seventies or eighties on a tougher track is far more satisfying than getting a hundred. So rather than thinking that it's been 1100 days, he should think about what he has done over a period of last three years, which is far more important."

Kohli last scored a century in India in the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in November 2019. His last ODI century at home was against Australia in Ranchi in March 2019.

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"I don't think so in ODI cricket" - Gautam Gambhir on Virat Kohli's past struggles against spin

Virat Kohli wasn't troubled by the Sri Lankan spinners. [P/C: BCCI]

Gambhir was further asked if he saw a sense of assurance in Virat Kohli's batting against the spinners as he has been troubled by them lately, to which he replied:

"I don't think so in ODI cricket, to be honest. Yes, people have troubled him in T20 and Test cricket where it's gripping and turning but that hasn't been the case in ODI cricket unless it's gripping square."

The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by saying that Kohli was at his dominant best during Tuesday's knock, observing:

"It's two new balls. It doesn't grip that much. He knows how to construct an innings in the 50-over format. So I don't think that's true that he has been troubled by a lot of spinners in the ODI format. You might be able to say that in Tests and T20s but he was very, very authoritative today."

Virat Kohli struck 12 fours and a six during his innings. Four of those boundaries came against the spinners, including the solitary six off Dhananjaya de Silva's bowling.