India's Kohli surprised himself with drought-ending T20 hundred

Kohli on Thursday scored his 71st international ton - his first ever in a T20 for India - after a gap of 1,020 days to help India end the Asia Cup with a crushing win over Afghanistan in Dubai.

India's campaign in the tournament ended early after they lost their first two Super Four matches to Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- the teams that made Sunday's final with two wins each.

But Kohli shrugged off his extended dry run with the bat to score two successive half-centuries and then an unbeaten 122 off 61 balls to lead the tournament batting chart so far with 276 runs in five matches.

"This tournament was important for us," Kohli said in an interview with skipper Rohit Sharma on India's cricket board website.

"We got an exposure of a knockout stage, of being under pressure but our goal is the World Cup in Australia and we are improving as a team. We will learn from the matches that didn't go our way."

The 33-year-old Kohli took a month-long break from tours of the West Indies and Zimbabwe to come back fresh for the tournament, which acts as a precursor to T20's showpiece event.

During the tournament, Kohli talked of mental struggles in his lean patch and only former captain M.S. Dhoni reaching out to him when he stepped down as Test skipper.

"The way you all gave me space, I felt relaxed," Kohli told Rohit.

"I was excited and I had to play like this because we have the big World Cup coming and if I play well I can contribute more to the team."

Kohli's unbeaten 122 in Thursday's Asia Cup match was his first international century since his 70th in a test match in November 2019.

Holders India could not make the final but Kohli is the tournament's leading scorer with 276 runs from five innings including his maiden century in Twenty20 Internationals.

"I was a bit shocked because this was the format I least expected a century to come in any time soon, but it's all God's blessings,

"I have been working hard and this was just a moment which was very special for me and the team as well."

Kohli's return to form augurs well for India ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia beginning next month.

Talking at the presentation ceremony later, man-of-the-match Kohli said he did not feel he was out of form despite his prolonged wait for a hundred.

"What actually surprised me was my 60s became failures, which was quite shocking for me.

"I was batting pretty well and contributing, but it didn't seem to be good enough."

Kohli said the month-long break he took from the game this year did wonders for him and the team environment also helped.

"I went back to the drawing board, came back fresh, came back excited.

"The team management have also had great communication with me through these times, they've kept me very relaxed, kept my perspective right.

"They said 'you just bat and enjoy yourself'... So it was just a matter of getting back into the space of enjoyment."