IND vs NZ | Will take a call on my career probably after three years, reveals Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has minced no words in admitting that he might follow the path of partial retirement when he hits 34-35 in order to keep his body injury-free. Kohli has further added that India will not go into the New Zealand series with a set template, rather with an approach of adapting on the go.
A week ago, David Warner flagged the idea of retiring from T20Is following the 2021 T20 World Cup in India to elongate his Test career, which has been a great deal of his legacy even though it was never presumed to be one. Virat Kohli, often a believer of periodic break in order to keep the fire alive, stated that it is a conversation not to hide away from and he might take the same path in three-four years of time.
âIt is not a conversation to hide away from (from giving up one format to elongate his career). Itâs been almost nine years now that I have been playing almost 300 days a year. So with the travelling, practise sessions and intensity, it is right up there all the time. It does take a toll on you. So we are taking a lot more breaks than we used to even though the schedule doesnât allow us to. You are going to see a lot of that in the future, from many players, not just myself, especially the players who play all three formats. I am not in that space at that moment. Periodic breaks seem to be working fine for me,â Kohli said in the pre-match press conference in Wellington.
However, Kohli understands his importance in the side and how difficult it would be for the team to ease into a new transition for which he stated that a break after three-four years would mean that the transition will be smooth enough. The Indian skipper referred to the time when Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar slowly retired from the format, sandwiched between the jettisoning of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag from the Test sides.
âBut in three-four years down the line, when I am probably 34-35, we might have a different conversation. However, for the next two-three years, I have no problem. I can continue with the same intensity. Because I understand the team needs my contribution so that we can ease into another transition that we faced six years ago. In the mindset point of view, I am ready for the rigorous three years and we will see what happens then,â Kohli said.
After conquering Australia last year, the upcoming New Zealand Test series will be the series that will determine this Indian teamâs legacy considering they donât have an away Test series lined up for almost nine months. To add to that, India have won only five Test matches in New Zealand since playing their first Test in 1968 - the series they won 3-1 thanks to Ajit Wadekar and Farokh Engineerâs batting exploits and Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Bediâs bowling dominance. There will be a monkey on Kohliâs back to set the records straight and Kohli stated that the team will try to approach the game on the go by adapting themselves to different scenarios.
âIt is not different at all in terms of showing respect to the opposition. We approach all the teams in the same manner. Basically what we do is play to our strength and it doesnât matter how much patience the opposition has, we have to show more patience. We need to prepare in a manner that New Zealand are more patient than any team in the world and thatâs what we do.
âOf course, our preparations are such, our fitness levels are such that we can compete with any team anywhere in the world. That is the kind of confidence we want to take into the series. If the opposition plays the waiting game, then we will also play the waiting game. If they counter-attack, then we will have the opportunity to take wickets or score runs. Look, we have to adapt to whatever comes our way rather than having a set template,â Kohli said.
The first Test of the series will start on February 21 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
