Star Indian batter Virat Kohli on Saturday (March 15) joked that he might come out of T20I retirement to play in the 2028 Olympics, slated to be held in Los Angeles.
The 36-year-old, who called time on his T20I career following the T20 World Cup triumph last year, stated that to be an Olympic champion would be a magnificent feeling.
Speaking at the RCB Innovation Lab after arriving in Bengaluru ahead of the IPL 2025 season, Kohli opened up on his post-retirement plans, and how playing in the Olympics was a tempting idea.
"I actually don't know what I will be doing post-retirement. Recently, I asked a teammate the same question and got the same reply. Yeah, but there may be a lot of travelling," Kohli said.
Kohli was being interviewed by former England cricketer Isa Guha, who asked the Indian stalwart if he would be interested in playing in the LA Olympics, which will host cricket for the first time in more than 100 years.
Cricket will be played in the T20I format in the 2028 Olympics, and Kohli quipped that he would return only if India were playing in the gold medal match.
Here's how Kohli's chat went with Isa Guha unfolded:
Virat Kohli: "So many T20 leagues are played all over the world, and I think that IPL has definitely played a massive role in that as well. It has brought cricket to a stage where it is part of the Olympics. It's a great opportunity for some of our guys."
Isa Guha: "Can't we coax you out of retirement?"
Virat Kohli: "No. For the Olympics? Maybe? If we are playing for the gold medal, I may come back for one game (laughs). Get a medal and come back home. It is a great thing. To be an Olympic champion would be a magnificent feeling, the first of its kind."
Kohli also expressed optimism about the future of women’s cricket in India, especially with the emergence of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
“They were their own catalysts and kind of put the attention onto them. I literally saw it happening like in a time span of 6-7 years. The way they started playing, you could see that belief and then people started engaging in that a lot. And eventually it got to a place where, you know, the commercials became better, money was being infused into the women's game, and then you have the WPL,” he remarked.
The RCB icon further added that the sporting culture of India was at the right path.
“Looking at men for the improvement of sport in any country, it has to be a collective. Sports culture includes everyone, and women's sport is a massive part of it and we have so much data in women's sports, not just cricket but all the others. We are creating individual activities over the year in tennis, badminton, wrestling, boxing. So, I think it's definitely heading in the right direction and it needs more backing and more and more infrastructure to be developed,” he said.
