Returning to action after a lengthy COVID-19 hiatus, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli is pleased with the fitness level of his troops as well as himself.
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The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is slated to start in UAE on September 19 and Kohli said “everyone is looking in great shape” ahead of the cash-rich tournament.
“From fitness point of view everyone is looking great, everyone is in good shape. It’s a matter of feeling good and I think I felt good from the first session onwards,” he stated in a video posted on RCB’s twitter handle.
“Obviously, there are few things that you try and rectify along the way and once you reach your optimum mind set and you enter competition you just want to stay in that as much as possible.”
Reflecting on the two-week training period, Kohli said they had a balanced approach to avoid injuries to players.
“We don’t want to push anyone into a niggle or an injury because we understand it’s been a while away from the game. So I think we moved ahead in a balanced manner.
“We don’t want to be a maniac like doing 6 sessions in six days. We gave ample off time to the boys which we will continue to do along the course of the these next few training sessions also,” he remarked.
According to the RCB captain, the need of the hour was to start slowly and increase the intensity of training sessions gradually.
“First few days we are just getting our eye in, getting back in thick of things after 5 months, it’s a bit different, try and get into the frame of mind which you usually want to be. It takes a bit of time, in these session now we are mostly batting in the middle, trying to figure out hitting angles, understanding the pace of wicket and all these.
“I am very very happy with how the team is shaping up,” Kohli said.
“Few shoulders were sore initially because we threw after months, suddenly you realise a few muscles were asleep. But I think the guys are now getting back into the intensity level we want,” he explained.
The IPL 2020 will be played across three venues in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai. RCB will open their campaign against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Dubai on September 21.
