India legend Virat Kohli has downplayed concerns over lack of competitive action under his belt as he bids to play his first ODI in seven months against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday.
Soon-to-be 37, a refreshed Kohli said he was feeling as fit as ever after catching up on life during the four-month break since winning his first IPL title with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in June 2025. Kohli brushed down any concerns over the absence from a high-octane match environment before taking the field at the venue of his last Test century, stressing that no player had endured as many international matches as he has in the last 15 years.
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‘Fit as ever’
“Well to be honest, the amount of cricket I’ve played over the last 15-20 years, I’ve actually not rested at all if that makes sense. I’ve probably played the most number of games in the last 15 years in international cricket, combining the IPL together as well. So for me, it was a very refreshing time off.
“I’m feeling as fit if not fitter than I’ve ever been before and yeah you can just feel the freshness when you know you can play the game and mentally you know what to do out there it’s just the physical preparation that really needs to be taken care of,” Kohli told in a chat with Ravi Shastri and Adam Gilchrist on Fox Sports.
Kohli indeed leads the charts in terms of match time in international cricket, having featured in a whopping 535 of his 551 career matches since the start of 2010, besides 238 IPL matches. He is followed by his long-time India teammate and former captain, Rohit Sharma (444 int’l and 243 IPL matches,) who is also gearing up for his comeback in the India blues for the first time since the Champions Trophy.
“At this stage I realised that if my body is fit, if my reflexes are there then the game awareness is already there, my body has to match up with it and that’s something that I try to keep up with, I live my life like that and yeah no issues at all, I’m feeling fresh here coming into Australia and moving really well in the nets and in the fiddling sessions as well so all good so far,” Kohli remarked.
