Virat Kohli Admits He Was 'Scared' To Pick Up Bat After COVID-19 Break

As the IPL 2020 is all set to start, Virat Kolhi-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on September 21. All teams are focussing on the practice sessions and the videos are being widely circulated. The players can be seen sweating out and giving their best shots.

RCB captain Virat Kohli has confessed that he was "scared" to pick up the bat after five months and that the long COVID-19 break has led to sore muscles during the initial training sessions.

He also said that it was different to try and get back into the desired mental frame of mind because of the hiatus, adding that the team was shaping up now. The 31-year old cricketer whose team is yet to win an IPL title said that he has felt good about the team from the first session onwards.

More intense, more hungry than ever before, and more balanced, Virat Kohli speaks about his progress after two weeks of practice in the UAE ahead of Dream 11 IPL 2020. pic.twitter.com/l2ovA1IgGf

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) September 12, 2020

“Obviously, the first few days, which is for getting your eye in, getting back into the thick of things, after five months, it’s a bit different to try and get back in the frame of mind which you usually want to be in. It takes a bit of time, so heading into these sessions now where we’re batting mostly in the middle with hitting angles in the field and understanding the pace of the wicket and all those things. [I’m] very happy with how the team is shaping up.

“Few shoulders were sore initially because we after months and suddenly you realise that a few muscles are asleep so I think the guys are getting back into the intensity levels that you want. We don’t want to push anyone a niggle or an injury’ we understand it’s been a while away from the game.

“We’ve moved ahead in a balanced manner. We didn’t want to be like a manic, doing six sessions in six days, we gave ample off time to the boys which we’ll continue to do along the course of these next few training sessions also. But yeah, from a fitness point of view, everyone’s looking great. Everyone’s in good shape.

“It’s a matter of feeling good and I think I’ve felt good from the first session onward. There are a few things you want to rectify along the way and once you reach your optimum mindset and you enter the competition; you want to stay in that as much as possible," Virat Kohli said, as quoted by India Today