“Once I am done, I will be gone, you won’t see me for a while,” says Virat Kohli on retirement

The 35-year-old Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli may decide to give up his boots soon. Many fans and commentators of cricket are of the opinion that “King Kohli” may decide to give playing limited-overs cricket after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in June in order to devote more time to his family and concentrate on prolonging his Test career.

During the latter five or six years of his career, Sachin Tendulkar was frequently surrounded by speculation of retirement. His age was more important than his abilities or level of fitness. Although it is perhaps a little more widespread in Indian cricket, this is not unheard of in the life of a professional athlete.

There are no indications that Kohli will slow down. Even his harshest critic would not dare to cast doubt on his physical condition given that he is well over the skinny patch that gave his naysayers a voice a few years ago, but you can still sense the undercurrent whenever Kohli takes the stage.

Kohli has played 113 Tests, 292 ODIs, and 117 T20Is since making his international debut against Sri Lanka at Dambulla in 2008. His total of 26,733 international runs across formats includes 80 hundreds, leaving him only behind another Indian legend, Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record for the most international centuries (100). Kohli shows no signs of slowing down; he is now leading the IPL run rankings with 661 runs in 13 innings.

In a recent meeting with his IPL team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), at the Royal Gala Dinner, Virat Kohli revealed his post-retirement ambitions. Speaking about it, the cricketer stated that he plans to take a long sabbatical when he finishes playing cricket. He also stated that he does not want to have any regrets as a sportsperson after his retirement.

Kohli said: “I think as a sportsman, we do have an end-date to our careers. So I am just working backwards. I don’t want to finish my career thinking, ‘Oh, what if I have done this on that particular day?’ because I can’t keep going on and on forever. So it’s just about not leaving any undone business behind and not have any regrets later, which I am sure I won’t.”

Following the IPL, Virat Kohli will compete in the ICC T20 World Cup, where the experienced batsman hopes to help India break their ICC Trophy drought. Initially, there were concerns that Kohli would be included in India’s team for the major event since selectors were dissatisfied with Kohli’s approach to the game; nonetheless, the famous batter once again shown that a match winner is a match winner regardless of format.

Virat Kohli also stated that after retiring from cricket, he will take a long sabbatical before deciding on the next chapter in his life. The cricketer also mentioned that he wants to give his all to the sport and be his best self every time he plays.

“Once I am done, I will be gone, you won’t see me for a while. So I want to give it everything I have till the time I play, and that’s the only thing that keeps me going,” he said.

Kohli will compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States, making it his sixth consecutive involvement in the competition. He has the most runs in Men’s T20 World Cup history, with 1141. Given Kohli’s current form, he might increase that total even further.