After leading India to a 17-run victory over South Africa with his player-of-the-match century, Virat Kohli ruled out playing in Test or Twenty20 internationals. However, he stated he felt as ready as ever to play in the 50-over format.
On Sunday, the 37-year-old defied his age by scoring 135 runs from 120 balls while racing between the wickets for 49 runs, including 40 singles. In his record-breaking 52nd ODI century, he also smashed 11 boundaries and seven sixes.
“Yeah, that’s how it is going to be. I am just playing one format of the game,” stated Kohli, who retired from Twenty20 Internationals following India’s victory in the T20 World Cup last year. Earlier this year, he announced his retirement from Test cricket.
The former India captain continues to play T20 cricket in the IPL.
“I have played 300-odd ODI games, and so much cricket over the last 15-16 years. If you are in touch with the game, you know your reflexes are there, you can bat two hours in the nets without taking a break, you are meeting all those markers,” he added.
In order to save energy for the Ranchi match, Kohli claimed to have taken the day off.
“I’ve never been a big believer of a lot of preparation… all my cricket has been mental. As long as I feel, mentally, I can play the game, I work physically hard every day,” he said in the post-match presentation.
“As I said many times before, if I arrive somewhere, I’ll arrive 120%.”
When he and Rohit Sharma put up a 136-run partnership that set the stage for India’s victory, Kohli—who hasn’t played in a competitive match since October against Australia—proved his preparedness.
“I thought, let me just go out and hit the ball, not think too much about any of the other stuff. Just me and the ball coming at me. And just enjoy the game of cricket, which is the very reason I started playing this game,” Kohli said.
