Virat Kohli seems to have hit the ground running in full throttle ahead of the IPL 2020. Captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kohli batted like a beast during RCB’s most recent net session, a clip of which was shared on their official Twitter handle on Saturday. Facing up to the bowlers, Kohli brought out the big shots and with every hit, the appreciation of the onlookers grew.
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RCB open their IPL campaign on September 21 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai. It’s been a while the RCB players have been practicing in the nets, and even though they are nine days away from playing their first game, Kohli shared the details of the intensity of each practice session, highlighting the need to not try too much in too little time.
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“Obviously, the first few days, which is for getting your eye in, getting back into the thick of things, after five months, it’s a bit different to try and get back in the frame of mind which you usually want to be in. It takes a bit of time, so heading into these sessions now where we’re batting mostly in the middle with hitting angles in the field and understanding the pace of the wicket and all those things. [I’m] very happy with how the team is shaping up,” Kohli said in a video uploaded by RCB.
“Few shoulders were sore initially because we after months and suddenly you realise that a few muscles are asleep so I think the guys are getting back into the intensity levels that you want. We don’t want to push anyone a niggle or an injury’ we understand it’s been a while away from the game.”
{{/usCountry}}“Few shoulders were sore initially because we after months and suddenly you realise that a few muscles are asleep so I think the guys are getting back into the intensity levels that you want. We don’t want to push anyone a niggle or an injury’ we understand it’s been a while away from the game.”
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The thing that impresses Kohli most is the fitness levels and the shape the squad members are in, which is why the RCB skipper is keen not to impose too much on his players. With most cricketers having not played any form of cricket in the last five to six months, Kohli, who holds the record for the most number of runs in a single season of IPL (973 in 2016), feels what matters is to make steady progression with time.
“We’ve moved ahead in a balanced manner. We didn’t want to be like a manic, doing six sessions in six days, we gave ample off time to the boys which we’ll continue to do along the course of these next few training sessions also. But yeah, from a fitness point of view, everyone’s looking great. Everyone’s in good shape,” he said.
“It’s a matter of feeling good and I think I’ve felt good from the first session onward. There are a few things you want to rectify along the way and once you reach your optimum mindset and you enter the competition; you want to stay in that as much as possible.”