Virat Kohli recently called time on his T20I career. He announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game after helping India win the T20 World Cup in June this year.
With the veteran batsman retiring from T20Is, many believe that his days in Tests and ODIs are also numbered. Speculations are rife that Virat Kohli might bid farewell to the other two formats of international cricket soon as well.
And while only time will reveal how things pan out in the coming days, former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar believes that the right-handed batsman has the fitness to play for a few more years. In a recent interview, the former India coach said that Kohli is fit enough to play international cricket for the next 5-6 years.
“The kind of fitness that Virat Kohli has and the way he works hard will allow him to play for the next 5-6 years in international cricket,” Bangar said on the Rao Podcast.
Sanjay Bangar said: “The kind of fitness Virat Kohli has and the way he works hard will enable him to play for the next 5-6 years in international cricket.” [The Rao Podcast] image.twitter.com/rBtXtHXPFa
—Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 26, 2024
Virat Kohli reached tremendous levels of fitness: Sanjay Bangar
In the same podcast, Sanjay Bangar also said that Virat Kohli reached a tremendous fitness level while leading the Indian team. Bangar, who was a member of the Indian coaching staff when Kohli was leading the team, claimed that the former India captain wanted the team to perform well overseas.
“Virat was motivated by the fact that India had to improve their performances abroad. Because in India we knew that irrespective of whether anyone was there or not, with all due respect to the opposition, if you come to India, India wins 75 per cent of the time. You will really have to play badly to lose in India,” Bangar said.
“He himself reached enormous levels of fitness and pushed his physical limits to the limit. He worked very hard. I think he scored the most runs during that period as captain and he had that drive,” he added.
Kohli has been plying his trade in international cricket since 2008. Earlier this month, he played for Team India during the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Kohli failed to start batting in the series as he posted scores of 24, 14 and 20. He will look to bounce back when India hosts Bangladesh for a two-match Test series next month.
