Kohli credits light schedule for good form aged 37
[Getty Images] India great Virat Kohli said the breaks in his schedule help him stay "fresh and excited" as he scored an unbeaten 69 on his return to action in the Indian Premier League . Playing his first T20 innings since last year's IPL final and his first knock of any kind since January, Kohli anchored Royal Challengers Bengaluru's impressive chase of 202 in the opening match of this year's competition. The 37-year-old ended his 123-Test career last year and retired from T20 internationals after winning the 2024 World Cup, leaving one-day internationals, the IPL and occasional domestic matches for Delhi as his only competitive action.
"The amount of cricket I have played, for me there was always risk being burned out rather than overcooked," he said after RCB's win. "These breaks help me immensely to stay fresh and excited. "Whenever I come back to play it is 120%.
" Kohli's 69 came from 38 balls with five fours and five sixes. He began in a more measured fashion as number three Devdutt Padikkal crashed 61 from 26 balls. Amid a sparse schedule, it was his fifth fifty in his past 10 innings in addition to five centuries across formats.
"It was good to get back out there," Kohli said. "The way I batted in the ODI series [against New Zealand in January] quite recently helped me stay in that same momentum. "I wasn't playing shots that I don't usually play.
"I knew as long as I have the rhythm and have done enough work with my fitness things should come together nicely. " [BBC]