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Internet Desk: The Indian skipper Virat Kohli claims that he becomes most satisfied when he shines in Test cricket and he has mastered the longest format of the game by “watching” his teammate Cheteshwar Pujara bat for hours and there by playing a long innings. At a an age of just 29, Kohli has establised himself as one of the greatest in the game as he surpassed Brian Lara by achieving most Test double hundreds (6).
“My favourite obviously is Test cricket, we are making sure from every angle that this should be the most important format because as batsman or as bowlers also we know how pleasing it is to score in Test matches, especially when conditions are tough,” Kohli said.
He added: “You have to counter conditions in South Africa, England, Australia. Job satisfaction is the most in this format. ODI and T20I also from an emotional point of view. When there is a full stadium and you win a close game, that gives you a high.”
Kohli said that it is his teammate Pujara who has inspired him to score big hundreds and that he has learnt to bat longer watching him do that.
“It feels wonderful. It was always my mindset to score big hundreds, something that I have watched you do a lot in your career early on and learnt also, how to concentrate for longer periods. We have all learnt from his (Pujara) long innings, his concentration levels and his will to keep batting. So I also got inspired by that to keep batting for the team for as long as possible.
“Now I only think of how I can play more for the team and then you know, you don’t feel the tiredness and anything else and keep carrying on looking at the situation,” Kohli said.
The Indian captain has scored all his six double hundreds in the last 17 months and has also scored 52 international centuries across formats. Kohli said he strives to remain in peak physical fitness in order to make the most of it in the time he has.
“We know as professional cricketers, we don’t have many years. So, we have to make the most of it and I try to stay as fit as possible, take care of my diet, take care of my training and it’s paid off well till now. In the later half of my career, as we all know, it’s going to get more difficult. So I’m trying to put in as much as possible in training now and later on, I can still manage to keep the same kind of intensity. But I think we all are training so hard now and it’s showing on the field and I am just trying to do the same.”
While it is well documented by now, Kohli was again asked how and when his transformation kicked in, and he was forthright in his reply.