Kohli said he no longer aspires to achieve milestones, but he is playing cricket for the ‘pure joy’ of it.
Bengaluru: Champion batter Virat Kohli on Saturday emphatically said he is not mulling retirement at the moment as he has been enjoying the game, and the “competitive streak” inside him is very much intact.
Kohli displayed the old spark while playing an important hand in India’s recent Champions Trophy victory in Dubai, after which skipper Rohit Sharma too dismissed the retirement talks surrounding him.
“Don’t get nervous. I’m not making any announcements. As of now everything is fine. I still love playing the game,” Kohli said during a talk session at the RCB Innovation Lab.
Kohli said he no longer aspires to achieve milestones, but he is playing cricket for the “pure joy” of it.
“It’s pretty much come down to just the pure joy, enjoyment, competitive streak, and love for the game. And as long as that is there I will continue to play. As I said today I am not playing for any achievement,” he said.
Kohli said that innate “competitive streak” makes it tougher for a sportsperson to find the right time to move away from the game.
“You know the competitive streak doesn’t allow you to find the answer (for the retirement question). I had a very interesting conversation about this with Rahul Dravid. He said you always have to stay in touch with yourself.
“Figure out where you are placed in your life and the answer is not that easy. You might be going through a lean phase and you feel like this is it. But it might not be. But then when it is time my competitive streak would not allow me to accept it. Maybe one more month.