Virat Kohli reveals retirement plans ahead of 29th birthday

Courtesy: IANS

New Delhi: In one freewheeling chat with Gaurav Kapur on 'Breakfast with Champions', India cricket captain Virat Kohli has revealed that he will stop playing the day his "passion ends".

Kohli, who will turn 29 on Sunday (November 5), has been leading from the front as the skipper of an all-conquering Indian outfit. But the batsman reflected on the inevitable, and said that he will "never want to drag myself for more than my body can take".

“The motivation is just about winning. The day the passion ends, I will stop playing. I’ll never want to drag myself for more than my body can take”, he said.

Regarded as one of the fittest cricketers in the world, Kohli has established himself as a living embodiment of commitment and discipline. His works ethics is unrivalled. Those dedications have truly reflected on his on-field performance.

He is the superstar of world cricket.

The skipper, however, admitted that there were days when he used to wake up with a sense of detachment, asking himself questions.

Then again, like a true leader, he said that there should not come a time in his playing career when the game becomes "more of a participation thing”.

“When the feeling of pushing oneself back from failure subsides and the ability to try yet again stops, continuing from there on is impossible for a sportsperson. I’ll stop playing when I feel I am just standing on the field without the passion and energy of winning, when the game becomes “more of a participation thing," he added.

The concluding statement was, "If I can’t contribute to the team, I won’t continue."

Kohli has played 60 Tests, 202 ODIs and 53 T20Is, scoring 4658, 9030 and 1878 runs respectively with the help of 49 international hundreds. His 32 ODI tons is second only to Sachin Tendulkar's 49.

India take on New Zealand in the second T20I match today in Rajkot. A win today will give Kohli & Co a limited-overs double over the Kiwis. They have won the first of the three matches on Wednesday in Delhi.

Earlier, India beat New Zealand 2-1 in a three-match ODI series.