Debasis Sen, Kolkata: India skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday said that he too is human and needed rest like others in the team. The talismanic batsman also mad it clear that he will ask for rest once he feels the need for it. It has been reported that the Indian captain might sit out for the third and final test match of the series against Sri Lanka. Virat it is learnt has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to give him rest for the third test and for the succeeding One-Day International (ODI) series.
On being asked whether he needed rest considering he has been playing continuously over the past one year, the Indian captain said, “Definitely I do need rest, why don’t I need rest? When I think of the time my body should be rested, I’ll ask for it. I am not a robot you can slice my skin and check I bleed.”
Asked about managing the workload with all-rounder Hardik Pandya being rested for the first two Tests, Kohli said players who give that much extra on the field need rest and the situation is sometimes not understood by all.
“This is one thing which I don’t think people explain properly. There is a lot of talk from the outside in terms of workload — whether a player should be rested or should not be rested. All cricketers play 40 games in a year. Three guys who should get rest, their workloads are to be managed. 11 players play the game but not everyone would have batted 45 overs in an ODI game or not everyone would have bowled 30 overs in a Test match,” Kohli pointed out.
He added, “But the ones who are doing it regularly need to be assessed because the body takes that much time to recover. People only look at ‘oh everyone has played 40 games’. They don’t look at time spent on the crease.”