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Watch: Why was Virat Kohli holding his chest, catching his breath while batting in India vs Zimbabwe match, video viral
It was surprising to see Virat Kohli panting and struggling to catch his breath while he batting in the India vs Zimbabwe T20 World Cup Super-12 tie at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Virat Kohli is quite possibly the fittest cricketer in the world. The former India captain's workout videos on social media, stunning dedication towards remaining fit and in shape is an inspiration to all his followers. Kohli's story transformation, where he went from being a chubby youngster to becoming the world's finest batter, is the stuff of legends, and if any budding cricketer wants to follow a template as to what the perfect modern-age player should be like, look no further than Kohli. You have hardly Kohli struggle physical when batting – be it whatever condition. At 44 degree or 18, he is a beast.
Which is why it was rather shocking to see Kohli panting and struggling to catch his breath while he batting in the India vs Zimbabwe T20 World Cup Super-12 tie at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium on Sunday. As he was batting with KL Rahul after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat, the camera showed Kohli looking down in the pitch, catching his breath and even holding his chest in a rare sight.
The incident took place in the 7th over of the Indian innings, when Kohli and Rahul scampered and completed a third run. Kohli began his innings with a four off the first ball and ran three after playing a beautiful cover drive through the largest square area on the ground. The first ball of the seventh over, Kohli whipped the ball against the turn and collected a boundary; however, since the ball beat the fielder just near the boundary, he was already back for the second. The next delivery, Kohli hit the ball in the same area to pick up another couple of runs. The intense running got the better of Kohli, who took a pause and caught his breath before resuming.
"He is such a quick runner between the wicket. Always looking for the extra run. You could see that the moment he played it, he knew where the fielder was, knew the power that he had. And so, the second was always going to be on. Just giving himself a little bit of a breather," Gavaskar said while on air.
Once again, Kohli was batting like a million bucks even as Rahul dictated terms and played aggressor at the other end. However, after scoring 26 off 25 balls, Kohli, who was looking set for another big score, fell against the run of play, holing out in the deep where Ryan Burl took a sharp catch off the bowling of Sean Williams. India were dealt two more blows in quick succession as Rahul, after scoring a half-century, and Rishabh Pant departed in the next couple of overs.
Despite India stuttering with fall of regular wickets, the innings was lifted, once again, by Suryakumar Yadav, who remained unbeaten on 61 off just 25 balls to power their total of a solid 186/5. Surya smashes three sixes and two fours in the last 13 balls of the innings en route to bringing up a half-century off 22 deliveries.
