Virat Kohli says he’s not playing for ‘achievement’ anymore but for the joy & excitement; admits retirement call be tough because of ‘competitive streak’BENGALURU: Virat Kohli on Saturday made it clear that retirement is not on the immediate agenda but the star batter admitted he may not be around when India tour Australia next in four years’ time. In a tongue-in-cheek response to the possibility of coming out of retirement for the 2028 Olympics, the 36-year-old former India skipper, speaking at the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leadership Summit here on Saturday, quipped, “I just might sneak in for one game, if we are playing the gold-medal match!” Excerpts…Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!On the possibility of retirement:I’m not playing for achievement. It pretty much comes down to just the pure joy, enjoyment and love for the game. And as long as that is intact, I’ll continue to play the game. I have to be honest about that with myself, because the competitive streak doesn’t allow you to find the answer. I had a very interesting conversation about this with Rahul Dravid when he was coach. He said you always have to stay in touch with yourself, figure out where you are placed in your life. And the answer is not that easy, because you might be going through a lean phase, and you (may) feel like this is it, but it might not be. When it is time, he said my competitive streak would not allow me to accept it. Maybe one more. You just have to pray and hope for clarity when it comes.On the Indian team’s recent Champions Trophy win:The only thing that we as a team have tried to do is create an environment of fun and involvement. When you go to a practice session, you’re looking forward to being at the training ground with your friends. It doesn’t feel like a drag, it doesn’t feel like I have to get off the bus and go for another session. It’s like, when are we going to get together with the boys again? Because we have so much talent today. And I think it came out beautifully. The guys adapted well to what was in front of them. We ended up winning because we adapted to the conditions much better than the others.Will Rohit Sharma win 2027 World Cup? Astrologer Lobo predicts after getting Champions Trophy bang on!On cricket at the Olympics:I’m happy about the inclusion. The amount of cricket has increased, so have the number of teams. Leagues are being played all over the world. The IPL has played a massive role in that as well. It’s a great opportunity for our guys. To be Olympic champions would be a magnificent feeling.On dealing with setbacks and lack of form:I can’t pinpoint one lowest point. If you ask me the intensity of how disappointed I’ve been, for me the most recent Australia tour would be the one that’s most fresh, or for a long period of time the tour of England in 2014 was the thing that bothered me the most. But I can’t look at it that way. I might not have an Australia tour again in me in four years’ time. I don’t have the chance to correct it. So, you have to make peace with whatever’s happened in your life. How do I cope? It’s just about the acceptance.On setting fitness standards in Indian cricket:There was a time when I realized that I need to change the way I’m preparing as an athlete. Motivation was something that came from within. No one had to force me to do it. India had a couple of very difficult overseas tours. And I figured out that the reason that we were falling short is because the other team was physically way fitter than us. And they were able to hold their plans and skills in pressure situations for way longer periods than we could. And that’s what Test cricket is all about, who’s able to stay in the battle for longer periods of time.After I became captain, we started to bring in this kind of culture into the team as well. It eventually became a fabric that went into the culture of the Indian cricket.On the WPL and growth of the women’s game:The perception (about women’s cricket) has changed massively. I think what the Indian women’s cricket team has done over the last few years is that they are the ones who were the catalyst to kind of put the attention onto themselves. I literally saw it happening in a time span of 6-7 years. The way they started playing, you could see that belief and then people started engaging a lot more. And eventually it got to a place where commercials became better. Money was being infused into the women’s game. And then you have the WPL. We have all seen the number of people that come and watch the games. And the standard of the games as well, be it power-hitting or skill levels and everything. This is what happens when you take a sport or even a part of a sport to that level of competition and equality.Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, and live scores for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Find out how to watch IPL 2025 in Canada and the USA.
As long as I love the game, I’ll continue to play: Virat Kohli | Cricket News
