In the one-hour long Instagram live chat with former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen on Thursday, apart from the host of topics discussed, Indian skipper Virat Kohli gave an insight into how long he would like to extend his international career.
While answering a question from Pietersen regarding the hectic scheduling in international cricket these days, Virat opened up about his future plans.
“I have thought about it. I have been playing three formats for nine years now, including the IPL, along with the captaincy for six years. So, it is not easy,” said Virat.
“But I will see. I said for the next two to three years more till the next World Cup, I will give it all and then figure out where I stand in which format and what not. And all those questions later.”Virat Kohli
Pietersen had asked Virat whether he feels that he has been playing too much cricket in the recent years.
“Do you feel like that you play too much? I remember during my career I was having huge arguments and disagreements with the ECB for my schedule. I was playing every T20 game, ODI game and every test match cricket and I did not want to miss on the IPL. So, do you feel like your feeling too much cricket,” Pietersen had asked Virat.
The Indian captain had answered in affirmative, explaining that he has found a way out to balance his international career of late.
“I felt like I have been doing too much in the last two three seasons. I started taking breaks every now and then, T20 matches here and there, may be an ODI series here and there because I didn’t want to miss any Test cricket to be honest.”
Talking about his stance on the recent surge in the number of T20 series, Virat said: “T20 cricket in between I felt there were too many games that had no relevance. I have spoken about it in the press for quite a number of times that you can’t have matches where there is zero motivation and energy. I don’t like to play like that.”
Earlier in the year, while Team India was on the tour of New Zealand, skipper Virat Kohli was critical of the scheduling aspect.
“Well, it’s definitely getting closer and closer to landing at the stadium and playing straightaway,” said Virat ahead of the first T20I against the Black Caps.
“That’s how compressed the game has become, but I think this kind of travel and coming to a place, which is seven hours ahead of India time, is always difficult to adjust to immediately,” explained the skipper.
“So, I am sure these things will be taken into consideration much more in the future… Yeah, it is what it is, and you can do whatever you can to get better and get on the park again, and that’s international cricket for you today. It’s back to back,” Virat had added.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)