Didn't feel like that: Virat Kohli on having a net session after 5 months

Royal Challengers Banglore skipper Virat Kohli has said that he "did not feel" any change even though he was away from the game for a long time and had a net session after a five-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was in March this year when the India skipper last attended a net session in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. The first ODI of the three-match series against South Africa was abandoned due to rain and later the series got postponed following the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

"Five months (back) is the last time when I had a net session. So, we had a net session in India when South Africa was here but we could not play the match in Dharamshala because it was raining. Then we got to Lucknow and then we had to come back," Kohli said in a video posted by RCB's official Twitter handle.

"So, the last session which was five months ago, honestly I did not feel like that. You are just ready to be moving and mobile on the field and then the instincts kick in," he added.

The 31-year-old will lead RCB in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Regarded as one of the great batsmen in the modern era, Kohli is yet to win an IPL title.

Earlier, Kohli had said that he never wants to leave the franchise and expressed his desire to win the IPL title for the side. During an Instagram live session with RCB teammate Ab de Villiers, Kohli termed his 12-year-long IPL journey as surreal.

"It has been 12 years. It is such an amazing journey, so surreal. You have been here nine years yourself. For a lot of people, it's all about obvious we want to achieve the ultimate goal for the RCB. We have come close thrice but haven't made it. That's always gonna be our dream together and I was just thinking there is no way in any scenario that I can ever think of leaving this team, because of the love and care, the franchise has shown," Kohli had said.

"You can feel emotional about the season going well or not but to have that loyalty with Bangalore, with RCB its quite surreal. Till the time I play IPL, regardless of how we play, I'll never leave this team," he had added.

Kohli has played 177 matches for RCB so far and has managed to score 5,412 runs in the tournament. He also picked up the Orange Cap in the 2016 edition after scoring 973 runs, including four centuries and seven half-centuries.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

The tournament will be staged at three venues (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah) in the UAE.