Virat Kohli also opened up on retirement from Test cricket.
For the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the current IPL 2026, Kohli has been in incredible form. The batting sensation has now amassed 484 runs at a strike rate of 165.75 and an average of 53.78 in 12 games. In the Orange Cap race, he is presently ranked third.
Kohli made it very evident that he still has the drive and dedication to persevere, but only in a setting where his worth and efforts are appropriately acknowledged.
“My perspective is very clear. If I can add value to the environment that I’m a part of, and the environment feels like I can add value, I’ll be seen. If I’m made to feel like I need to prove my worth and my value, I’m not in that space, and because I’m being honest to my preparation, I’m being honest to how I approach the game," Kohli stated on the RCB podcast.
“I put my head down, I work hard, I’m very thankful to God for giving me everything that I’ve been given in my cricketing career, and I feel very blessed and grateful for the opportunity. And when I arrive to play, I put my head down; I work as hard, if not harder, than anyone else; and I play the game in the right way. You want me to run boundary to boundary for 40 overs in an ODI game? I will do that without a complaint because I prepared accordingly.
I prepare for the fact that I will feel 50 overs every ball like it’s the last ball I’m going to play in my career, and I will back that way, and I will run between the wickets, and I will do everything possible for the team after operating like this. If I have to be in a place where I have to prove my worth and value, that place is not meant to be for me. And I am very clear in my head from that perspective,” he added.
After returning from the series in Australia, Virat Kohli dismantled the South African bowling line with back-to-back hundreds, revealing his mentality.
“When I went back to play, I was very clear in my head: I’m not going out there to prove anything to anyone. I am going to play because I love playing the game. That’s how I played Vijay Hazare (Trophy) as well. Yeah, I was playing. There was not a lot of fun; what was amazing was that. It was not a person in the Center of Excellence, COE," he said.
“Firstly, I thought, you know, about how I played for so long and if it would be motivating enough. But the moment my intention switched to "I want to play because I love playing; I just love batting, and I just want to focus on that," I could not care. It’s not like I didn’t yield. I fielded the whole game, and I was diving around, and I felt like a child again.
I was like, "This is not about anyone else; this is about me and the game, and that’s what it’s going to be." And the moment I feel like, you know, people are trying to complicate it for me and be like, "Oh, but this and that," either be clear and honest upfront or be quiet and let me play," he added.
In response to the constant inquiries about his dream of competing in the 2027 World Cup, Kohli made it quite evident that he has no intention of retiring. He stated that if he were still playing cricket, he would undoubtedly want to represent India.
But he also emphasized that a player's interaction with the team atmosphere should be reciprocal.
“Look, if you go to your workplace, right? Yeah, and if people say we believe in your abilities, and then a week later they start questioning the way you operate, it’s like, why not either tell me on day one I'm not good enough or I’m not needed, or if you have said I’m good enough, you say we’re not even thinking otherwise. Then be quiet, you know. Then don’t.
If you start operating up and down because of results, you can never have a consistent stance. And I’m not someone who behaves like that. As I said, when I come to play, I know what I can deliver in terms of effort and performance—no one can guarantee performance in any space. But in terms of effort and commitment, I know what I can deliver, because I literally live my life like that. It’s not like I prepared for a series to, you know, suddenly start working hard two or three weeks before it.
I’m like that through the year, so if you call me to play and if you say there’s a series coming up, I’m ready. I’m always ready, because that’s my daily life, you know. I work out; we eat well at home. It’s because I like living that way. Why would I leave my, my home, you know, get my stuff over, and be like, "I don’t know what I want"? Of course, if I’m playing, I want to play cricket. I want to carry on playing in a World Cup for India," he added.