By Aarav
Across every T20 match ever played in the Asia Cup, only two batsmen have reached a hundred—and both stopped at the same number: 122. The first belonged to Hong Kong’s Babar Hayat in 2016. Six years later, Virat Kohli matched it with an unbeaten 122 in Dubai. Two 122s, two very different stories, and a stat line that still sounds unreal.
Two 122s that defined a short T20 chapter
The Asia Cup has switched formats over the years—mostly 50-over cricket, with the T20 version used in T20 World Cup years. That means we’ve only had two T20 editions so far: 2016 and 2022. In that small sample, one knock from an associate player and another from one of the game’s biggest stars rose above everything else.
Babar Hayat’s century came first, in 2016, when the tournament ran a T20 qualifier to decide which associate team would join the full members. Facing Oman, Hayat broke the ceiling with a fearless 122. It wasn’t just a flood of boundaries—it was a statement that players from outside cricket’s traditional powerhouses could own a big stage. For Hong Kong, still building presence in international cricket, that innings became a touchstone moment.
Put the milestone in context: Hong Kong didn’t get many prime-time chances. Qualifiers in Bangladesh, packed schedules, and opponents who were just as hungry to break through. Yet Hayat seized it. He set the tempo early, targeted the straight boundaries, and refused to let the innings drift. Every over he survived made the hundred more likely, and when it arrived, it echoed far beyond that evening’s scoreboard.
Virat Kohli’s 122 not out arrived in 2022 in Dubai against Afghanistan. This was India’s Super Four fixture after a tough week, and Kohli moved to the top to open with intent. He looked free, timing the ball early, and when Afghanistan missed their lengths, he punished them. It was his first T20I hundred, ending a long personal wait for an international ton and reminding everyone what rhythm looks like when one of the game’s best locks in.
Kohli’s knock didn’t erupt suddenly; it gathered force. He was busy at the start, controlled the middle overs, and then exploded late. The unbeaten part mattered too. It told you he read the rhythm of the innings and still had enough left at the end to sprint. India romped to a massive total and a comfortable win. Even without the drama of a knockout, that innings carried weight—calm, clinical, and complete.
Why T20 hundreds are so rare here
The simple reason: very few T20 editions and very little time at the crease. The Asia Cup has only been staged in T20 format twice. In T20s, a batter often faces 40–60 balls at most, under pressure, on surfaces that change by the hour. Between early swing, sharp new-ball spells, and high-quality spin through the middle, it’s hard to survive long enough to hit three figures, let alone do it at a winning pace.
That’s why the near-misses stand out. Strong efforts popped up, but none crossed the line.
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 84 vs Sri Lanka (2022) lit up the opener and set the tone for a quick-scoring tournament.
- Rohit Sharma’s 83 vs Bangladesh (2016) was classic control—set up, absorb pressure, and accelerate late.
- Sabbir Rahman’s 80 vs Sri Lanka (2016) carried Bangladesh through a tense night in Mirpur.
Those knocks had shape and impact, but the last 20 runs in T20 cricket are a different game. Bowlers go wide, hit the blockhole, and use slower balls that die on the pitch. Fielding captains spread the boundary riders and dare you to take twos. Mistakes that cost you singles in the powerplay can cost you your wicket in the death overs. That’s why three figures keep slipping away, even for world-class hitters.
Hayat and Kohli cleared all those hurdles. The common thread wasn’t just ball striking. It was pacing. Both built a base, found a safe scoring area, and kept access to the big shot late. Hayat did it with a challenger’s mindset—no fear of reputation, just range and intent. Kohli did it with structure—good positions, clean hands, and smart picks against pace and spin.
There’s also the psychological side. In the Asia Cup, every game can feel heavy. Rivalries, selection debates, form questions—everything gets amplified when India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan share a schedule. For an associate batter like Hayat, that pressure looked different but no lighter: fewer chances, less margin for error, and a spotlight that comes on only a few nights a year. Turning that into 122 took nerve.
Format swings add another layer. The Asia Cup was ODI in 2018 and 2023, and T20 in 2016 and 2022. That stop-start rhythm means records in this tournament move slowly. You don’t get a T20 edition every year to attack milestones. So the two 122s feel bigger than a normal stat—they’re markers in a short chapter that fans still talk about.
What did these innings change? For Hong Kong, Hayat’s hundred put the team in more conversations. It told young players in associate nations that the scoreboard listens to anyone who stays in long enough and hits hard enough. The impact wasn’t just emotional; it was practical. Performances like that help convince boards, broadcasters, and fixtures committees that associate games belong on main cards, not just qualifying slates.
For India, Kohli’s hundred calmed a different conversation. It brought closure to a long wait for an international ton, showed that the method still works no matter the format, and set a benchmark for how to rebuild form in T20s—start clean, control risk, and finish big. Fans remember the feeling as much as the number: the tempo, the clarity, the ease.
So yes, only two centuries so far—and both are 122. That symmetry is neat, but the stories behind them are better. One came from a batter flying the flag for an associate team in a qualifying window. The other came from a superstar on a busy night in Dubai, turning questions into silence with every boundary. Different routes, same destination.
Will that number get company next time the Asia Cup goes T20? You’d think so, with deeper batting benches, higher strike rates, and powerplay rules that encourage risk. But the same factors that make T20 fun still make hundreds rare—new balls that move, spinners who control the middle, and death overs that squeeze you to the edge. That’s why the two that exist stand out the way they do.
And there’s one last twist that fans enjoy: both 122s arrived in the only two T20 editions the Asia Cup has seen. Until a third one is played, these two knocks are the entire gallery of Asia Cup T20 centuries. Small sample, big memories.
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