At a time, when the whole country is eagerly anticipating Virat Kohli to shatter majority of the batting records held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, the newly-appointed limited-overs skipper’s latest statement regarding his career is bound to shatter millions of hearts. The 28-year-old, who began his career as the full-time ODI skipper with a brilliant century against England in the first ODI at Pune, has expressed his doubts over whether he’ll be able to play as long as Tendulkar did.
Tendulkar, who holds almost every batting record to his name, played for nearly 25 years at the highest level and it’ll take a herculean task from any other player to even get close to his exploits and Kohli is under no illusion.
Admitting that matching Sachin’s incredible record will be impossible to achieve, the Delhi lad, while speaking to former England captain Nasser Hussain on bcci.tv, said:
“I might not play that long (24 years). 200 Tests, 100 international centuries. Those are incredible numbers and will be impossible to achieve. But yes, I want to make a difference and always believe that I must leave the game on a better note.”
An epitome of hard-work and dedication, Kohli pointed out that he has been able to focus solely on the game only because he does not have too many close people in his life.
“Luckily, I don’t have too many people in my life that I am close to. I think that helps. If you have too many people and too many friends you speak to, you get distracted and your time management becomes impossible,” Kohli said.
Kohli, whose stature as the best batsman in the world is escalating with every passing day, further said he never limits his ambitions.
“I think, somewhere as sportsmen, we somehow already limit ourselves to what we do without even knowing how much we can do. That’s something I never put a limit on. I always love to explore my maximum ability as far as my intensity in the field is concerned. And even with managing time, the day I get burnt out is the day I start cutting down on things. I never put any limitations on what I want to do in life.
“You just got to create a good balance and move forward. It’s been fine till now. I am able to maintain a balance as of now I can say,” he concluded.