Virat Kohli will play international cricket till 41: Ex-India coach's bold claim

Virat Kohli recently brought down the curtains on his T20I career. He announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game after helping India win the T20 World Cup in June this year.

With the veteran batsman retiring from T20Is, many believe that his days in Test and ODIs are also numbered. Speculations are rife that Virat Kohli could bid farewell to the other two formats of international cricket soon as well.

And while only time will reveal how things unfold in the coming days, former India allrounder Sanjay Bangar believes that the right-handed batsman has the required fitness to play for a few more years. In a recent interview, the former India coach said that Kohli is fit enough to play international cricket for the next 5-6 years.

"The kind of fitness Virat Kohli has, the way he works hard, he can play the next 5-6 years in international cricket," Bangar said on the Rao Podcast.

Sanjay Bangar said "The Kind of fitness Virat Kohli has, the way he works hard, he can play the next 5-6 years in International Cricket". [The Rao Podcast] pic.twitter.com/rBtXtHXPFa

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 26, 2024

Virat Kohli achieved enormous levels of fitness: Sanjay Bangar

On the same podcast, Sanjay Bangar also said that Virat Kohli achieved an enormous level of fitness while leading the Indian team. Bangar, who was a member of the Indian coaching staff when Kohli was leading the side, stated that the former India skipper wanted the team to do well overseas.

"Virat was driven with the fact that India had to improve their performances overseas. Because in India we knew that whether anybody is there or not, with all due respect to the opposition, if you come to India, India is winning 75 per cent of the time. You'll really have to play poorly to lose in India," said Bangar.

"He himself achieved enormous levels of fitness and challenged his physical limits to the hilt. He worked the hardest. I think he scored the maximum runs during that period as a captain and he had that drive," he added.

Kohli has been plying his trade in international cricket since 2008. Earlier this month, he played for Team India during the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Kohli failed to get going with the bat in the series as he registered scores of 24, 14 and 20. He will be looking to bounce back when India host Bangladesh for a two-match Test series next month.