'I thought Virat Kohli will burn out at some stages of his career'

Virat Kohli (L) talks to a teammate Hardik Pandya during the third one-day international cricket match between Australia and India at Manuka Oval in Canberra on December 2, 2020. Picture/ AFP

Former cricketer and star batsman VVS Laxman has showered huge praise on captain Virat Kohli who recently broke the 12,000-run barrier in ODIs. Laxman stated that Kohli plays with the same level of intensity that he used to when he began his career in 2008 and was quite impressed with that quality.

During the third ODI of the three-match series against Australia at the Manuka Oval on Wednesday, Virat Kohli set the record as the fastest batsman to score 12,000 runs in One-Day Internationals. India went on to win the match by 13 runs after Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja posted quickfire fifties.

Team India's captain has taken 242 innings (251 matches) to score 12,000 ODI runs, 58 less than legendary Sachin Tendulkar who had reached the landmark in 300 ODI innings (309 matches).

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, former Team India legends VVS Laxman and Gautam Gambhir lavish praise on Virat Kohli on becoming the first batsman to score 20K international runs in a decade.

Question: Gautam & VVS, everyone is hoping that it's a historic end to the decade as well in Australia, but fair to say, that this decade, the rise, the domination of Virat Kohli, more than 20,000 international runs 66 hundred, 7 double hundreds, he's put a stamp on every format, VVS?

VVS Laxman: Oh yeah, phenomenal! I think, the way he has played in each and every series, the kind of intensity he has maintained each and every day when he's on the cricket field is unbelievable because at some stage I thought that will be the biggest challenge for Virat Kohli, at some stages he will burn out, but not even once we have seen that energy drop-down when Virat is on the cricket field, whether he is batting or he is fielding.

Question: Gautam! Across formats, Test matches, One day-ers, T20 internationals, the way he has performed, what according to you has been the key to his success in all these 3 formats? The switch on-off button, adapting to different conditions, how has he managed to do it so well?

Gautam Gambhir: You can take anything, you can actually do whatever you want, but the best feeling in the world is when you score that last run and come back to your hotel room and you're so satisfied that you've done something for your country, what you were meant to do. So probably, all those combinations have made him what he is, and hats off to him, he's scored more than 20,000 runs, centuries all that.

Question: VVS, is that the thing? We talk about that often, that he is now in a zone, where he's competing with himself, he's literally like a man possessed, but just that joy which Gautam said that, you know that winning run, which he has turned into a habit, is that something that stands out that lot of these runs are impactful runs, which have come in a great fight and in a great cause?

VVS Laxman: And under pressure, because if you see his one day record how many Hundreds did he get while chasing and then you know that you've got a target to achieve, there's always a scoreboard pressure on him, but he relishes pressure, he relishes responsibility and that's what gets the best out of him.

Also Read: Gautam Gambhir: Ravi Shastri should've updated Virat Kohli about Rohit Sharma's injury

Team India, who lost the ODI series 1-2, will now look to seek revenge against Australia in the three-match T20I series against beginning Friday at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.

Inputs from IANS

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