IPL 2017: Gung-ho Virat Kohli raring to go

Bengaluru: Virat Kohli’s smile said it all. He was back in the press room, back on the field and more importantly, back in the team. “It’s been a while since I sat on this chair. I got hit on the 16th (of March). It’s almost been a month. Never a good feeling when you have played for seven eight years without missing a game at all. Rest is one thing, but missing a game because of injury is different. I am just delighted to be back and very excited to take the field,” said the cheerful Kohli ahead of Friday’s clash against Mumbai Indians.

There is a noticeable difference in the Royal Challengers Bangalore and India captain’s mannerisms, no sign of the brooding and battle-worn captain of the ill-tempered Australia series. The snarling version replaced almost completely by the relaxed one. The real one. “During the course of such a big series (against Australia), you tend to go into a zone sometimes which you think in hindsight, ‘maybe I could have done things differently, handled myself differently’,” the 29-year-old said.

“But in the larger picture, you understand what’s important for the team. I learnt a lot from that phase. As a captain, as an individual, as a person. I can’t control the focus bit. I always try and focus on my game. What (comes in) the cameras and the TV packages are not in my control. “So I wouldn’t say I will be disappointed if the attention is on me again because I am used to it by now. But I’ll definitely handle it better than I have in some instances in the past,” he added. His return now set against Mumbai Indians, the captain had high praise for the opponents.

“In the present team, you see Mumbai have retained their top players and introduced one or two fresh faces. The side is balanced. In IPL, you can’t take any team for granted and Mumbai, in that aspect, are stronger. Our focus is to play good cricket and see the results,” Kohli said.