Sri Lankan batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa on Wednesday (30th March) said that Virat Kohli is like Cristiano Ronaldo of cricket for him. He also talked about the importance of fitness in one’s career.
Rajapaksa recently hogged the limelight for his heroics against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the ongoing IPL 2022. Playing for Punjab Kings (PBKS), the southpaw played a brutal knock of 43 runs and helped his side chase a mammoth total of 206 runs.
He, in January this year, announced his retirement from international cricket but later withdrew it on the insistence of authorities. Rajapaksa wasn’t named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the T20I series against India as he was dropped due to his fitness issue.
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The southpaw made his debut for Sri Lanka during the Pakistan tour. He was named in the squad after senior players refused to travel to the country. Since then he has played 5 ODIs and 18 T20Is for his side, scoring 89 and 320 runs respectively.
Speaking to PTI, Bhanuka Rajapaksa called IPL the best league in the world and said that he’s picking the brains of his senior teammate Shikhar Dhawan. He also talked about his bond with skipper Mayank Agarwal, with whom he played U-19 cricket.
“IPL is the best league in the world and with every teammate of yours you get to learn a lot about the game, so I am loving picking the brains of Shikhar Dhawan. I get along very well with Mayank Agarwal as we played U-19 together,” Bhanuka Rajapaksa said.
Rajapaksa said that he wants to have a conversation with Virat Kohli, who for him is the Cristiano Ronaldo of cricket. He lauded RCB batter for his fitness and highlighted that one can learn a lot by talking to him.
“Outside of the team Virat Kohli is always someone I could speak to and get some advice on fitness. He’s at another different level when it comes to fitness. To me, he is the Cristiano Ronaldo of cricket for sure.
“The work he puts in you can obviously see the results. You can compare him to anyone when it comes fitness or even skills wise. He plays so hard and you can learn a lot by talking to him,” he said.
The PBKS batter said that for him skills come ahead of fitness. But one has to be fit to perform well. He talked about how he’s working hard on his fitness.
“As a player you need your fitness but it could be different from person to person. For me, of course, skill comes first. And then the fitness, but if you are not fit enough you definitely can’t perform. I’m actually working hard on my fitness. Whenever I get a free day I hit the gym early in the morning. That there are some fitness requirements to represent the country and with fitness, my international career would be longer,” he said.
He said that he wants to be at his peak for his country in the next 3-4 years. He also revealed why he decided to withdraw his retirement.
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“I’m hoping to play for the next three to four years at least and do the best for the country because after my resignation I had to withdraw it back because I had a couple of conversations with the technical committee and the Sports Minister as well. They wanted me to reconsider my retirement and I decided to withdraw it,” he said.
Rajapaksa recalled how a series against Pakistan changed his career after waiting for an opportunity for almost 9-10 years.
“It’s all about timing for me. I think God’s timing is the best timing and that Pakistan tour changed my career. I am pretty sure that I would have never been called to play for country if it was not for the withdrawal of senior players. The last two years has been extraordinary for me. I had to wait almost nine to 10 years till I got my first opportunity and playing so many years of first class cricket has only helped me in international cricket,” he said.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa also talked about the importance of yoga, which relaxes his mind. He said that he has worked very hard to achieve in his career.
“I never knew the importance of yoga but it has helped me relax my mind and I have added it to my routine. As I said I am a big believer in God. I appreciate every thing that comes my way and have worked really hard to achieve whatever I have in my career,” he concluded.
(PTI inputs)
