I’m not a robot, need rest: Virat
KOLKATA: Slice my skin and see if I bleed, said Virat Kohli when Hindustan Times asked him whether in all this talk of managing workload, he feels the need for a break.
“Definitely, I do need a rest, why not? When I think of the time my body should be rested I will ask for it. I’m not a robot, you can slice my skin and check if I still bleed,” said Kohli on Thursday.
Saying that it is humanly impossible to maintain intensity levels shown at start of the season, especially for those who play all formats, Kohli also took a veiled dig at those who questioned players’ need for rest.
“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 but there could be three guys who need to be rested because their workloads have to be managed.
“Not everyone in the XI would have batted 45 overs (in an ODI) 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,” said Kohli.
The answer didn’t mention Hardik Pandya who has asked to be rested for this series. But Kohli did mention Cheteshwar Pujara.
“For example, Pujara will have maximum workload in this series because he spends a lot of 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 that you don’t want important players breaking down at important times,” he said.
On Tuesday, Ajinkya Rahane had said training and recovery are both important and the team management’s emphasis on pool sessions, ice baths, massages help them recover. And on Monday, Saha had added the importance of a good night’s sleep and strength training to that.
Keeping Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews away from bowling in order to manage his recovery from a calf muscle injury too can be interpreted as a way of managing stress. As is their keeping Nuwan Pradeep away from this tour. “He has had so many injuries over the past two years. We don’t want that to keep happening,” said Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal.`