Picture Credit: Twitter
Virat Kohli is perhaps the fittest cricketer around the globe at the moment. When it comes to training, no one matches the level Kohli trains at. The 34-year-old prepares for the toughest of situations on the cricket field. Also, when it comes to running between the wickets, Kohli is just uncatchable. He can run quick 3s in the scorching heat of Dubai and be ready for another sprint right on the next ball.
Kohli’s teammates have accepted that when they are batting with the former India captain, they have to be at their level best and run as hard as possible. Hardly anyone sees Kohli gasping for breath after he completes a run. But it happened during the T20 World Cup match between India and Zimbabwe.
The Indian batter was seen gasping for breath and holding his chest after he completed a run during the first innings. 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.
On 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. On 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.
Watch the video here:
This not only brought some worries to the Indian dugout, but even the fans were left in dismay. While some questioned on what was going on, a few others suggested scans for the star batter.
Check out some of the reactions here:
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar explained the reason behind this. "He is such a quick runner between the wickets. 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.
Coming to the match, India defeated Zimbabwe by 71 runs to finish their league stage on a high. The Men in Blue will now meet England in the second semifinal on 10 November.