Virat Kohli will return to meet his feisty foes from Australia when India begin their three-match ODI series Down Under in Perth on Sunday. Soon to be 37, there are question marks over Kohli’s competitive form, but none can quite raise apprehensions over the former India captain’s fitness even at this age.
Building up to an enticing ODI series, out-of-favour Australia pacer Kane Richardson recalled Kohli’s supreme fitness levels while leading India back in the day, eight years ago. Taking over as the ODI captain from MS Dhoni in 2017, Kohli relished his peak year in ODI cricket the same season, plundering oppositions with streaks of big scores.
Recounting the second ODI of their 2017 tour to India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Richardson described how Kohli was bossing the Aussies in searing heat even when his teammates were panting and struggling to stand up on the field.
‘Like on a treadmill in air-conditioning’
“I remember there was a game in Kolkata where it was so hot. It was that hot, I can’t describe how hot this day was. I don’t think he (Kohli) made a 100 that day, I reckon he got a 90-odd. But, again, like we are literally dying and he is like clipping a one or a two and running it like he’s on a treadmill in air conditioning. You speak to anyone who was there that day and no one was speaking. Even if you get a wicket, there was complete silence because no one had energy. Virat had energy,” said the 34-year-old Richardson in a video shared by cricket.com.au.
This unsung Virat Kohli innings that lives rent free in Kane Richardson’s head 🥵#UnplayablePodcast #AUSvIND @qantas pic.twitter.com/JJjIoGTNns
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 16, 2025
“I remember bowling and Matty (Matthew) Wade threw up as I was running in, it was so hot. I remember Patty Cummins was sitting on an esky on the side on the field. Zampa was giving him a drink and someone was running in to bowl and Zamps was like, ‘Patty (Pat Cummins), bowler is running in to bowl’. He is like, ‘I Know’ and he is still just sitting on the esky off the field and if the ball got to him, he’d get up. But I remember it because that was when I was like this guy is a completely different level, no matter the conditions.”
What happened in the IND vs AUS Kolkata ODI in 2017?
Opting to bat first in energy-sapping conditions, India were led by Kohli’s exuberant 92 before putting 252 on board. The Aussies, battered by the heat, succumbed to a 50-run defeat after wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav bagged a hat-trick. India would go on to win the series 4-1.
WATCH: Virat Kohli’s epic 92 in Kolkata vs AUS, 2017
Kohli’s magical 2017 season
Kohli enjoyed his best year in ODI cricket in 2017, amassing 1469 runs at 76.84 in 26 games with a strike-rate nearly touching 100. Kohli smashed six centuries and seven centuries. He would repeat an encore in 2018, recording 1202 at a jaw-dropping 133.65 average and six centuries.
