Cricket

Virat Kohli can stick around in international cricket until he is 45 years old: Simon Doull

Simon Doull believes Virat Kohli has the fitness and skill to continue playing international cricket until he's 45, praising his adaptability and workload management across formats.

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Former New Zealand pacer and commentator Simon Doull has heaped praise on the Indian talismanic batter Virat Kohli, who scored his 85th international century in the third and final ODI against New Zealand on Sunday, January 18, in Indore.

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Speaking exclusively to JioHotstar, Doull asserted that there is still an air of youth about Kohli as his shots were crisp and clean. Moreover, he admitted that Kohli’s running between the wickets has been commendable, adding that he is still the fittest guy in the current Indian ODI side.

"Some of the shots were just crisp and clean. Beyond that, it's how he manoeuvres the field and how he runs between the wickets. There's still an air of youth about him. Despite his age and experience, he'd probably still be the fittest guy on that side. That's professionalism," Doull told JioHotstar.

Furthermore, the former pacer also hoped Kohli would stick to international cricket until he turns 45. Notably, Kohli came out to bat at 28/1 in the fifth over in the 338-run chase. He went on to score 124 runs. With no support from the other end, he failed to take the side over the line as India suffered a 41-run defeat to lose the ODI series 1-2.

"The willingness to keep trying to win games, to drag your team back into the contest when they're so far behind, and to run as hard as he does, for his own runs and for his teammates. There's so much to love about how he's playing at the moment. May he stick around in international cricket until he's 44 or 45 years old," he added.

With his century in the third and final ODI against New Zealand, Kohli reached a total of 54 ODI centuries, five more than the former legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar. Moreover, he also emerged as the most successful No. 3 ODI batter, going past Ricky Ponting's tally of 12,662 runs.

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