Kolkata: Batting for long in a manner that often seemed unreal, India skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday said he too needs rest from the gruelling international schedule since he is “not a robot”.
Kohli has played seven Tests, 26 ODIs and 10 T20 internationals in 2017, the most by any player in the Indian team.
“Definitely I do need a rest, why don’t I. When I think of the time my body should be rested I will ask for it, why not. I’m not a robot, you can slice my skin and check if I still bleed,” Kohli told reporters on the eve of the first Test against Sri lanka.
The India skipper also played 10 matches at the Indian Premier League’s 10th season, and had warned about burnout.
“This is one thing I don’t think people explain properly. There’s a lot of talk from outside in terms of workload whether a player should be rested or not. For example all cricketers play 40 games a year. Three guys who should get rest their workload are to be managed. Not everyone in the XI would have batted 45 overs or not everyone would have bowled 30 overs in a Test. But the guys who are doing that regularly are the ones who need to be assessed. His supreme athleticism on the field has rubbed onto other players in the side and they vouched for it.
“I don’t think people look at the times spent on the crease, the number of runs, the number of overs, the conditions etc. I don’t think people will go into that analysis. Everyone play same number of games.
“For example, Pujara will have maximum workload because he spends maximum time at the crease as his game is built that way. You can’t compare that to a counter-attacking batsman because the workload would have been lesser.
“All these things have be taken into consideration purely because of the fact that we have built such a strong core team now of 20-25 players. You don’t want important players breaking down at important times, that’s where the balance needs to be maintained going forward.”
He said it is humanely impossible to play all three formats and maintain the same intensity without taking a break.
