Not retiring, Virat Kohli will play till the age of 40: Childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma

Indian skipper Virat Kohli left everyone thinking after the comments that he made in the post-match presentation after the conclusion of the first ODI against West Indies on Sunday. The 29-year-old said that he has a few years left in him to enjoy the sport. “I have few years left in my career to enjoy this sport. Playing for the country is a matter of pride and a huge honour. You can’t afford to take any game lightly. You got to be honest to the sport and that is when the sport gives you back. I try to do that,” he had said.

This comment was a sort of confirmation that looking at the injury concerns that he has faced in 2018, Kohli might take a call on his career sooner rather than later. However, Rajkumar Sharma, childhood coach of Kohli, has said that he isn’t going anywhere and has around 10 years of cricket left in him.

“I don’t think he wanted to say a few years. You be assured. You will see him playing for India for the next 10 years. He will not retire before the age of 40 as his appetite to make runs will not satiate before that. He did not want to say that. He wanted to say that he has 5-7 years left to play the game. He is not going anywhere for the next 10 years. There is no injury concern to him

Kohli has missed a number of games in 2018 due to injury concerns. He skipped the third and the final T20I of the series against South Africa earlier this year where Rohit Sharma stood for him. Later, he went on to miss Nidahas Trophy and revealed that he didn’t touch the bat for three weeks.

Considering that he has missed a number of games in 2018 due to one or another injury, questions regarding whether he is looking forward to taking a call on his career were expected to come out especially with Kohli himself talking about it on a number of occasions. His coach, however, feels that he still has 10 years of career left in him.