“Jab tak cricket khelunga, ye Impact Player ki tarah nahi khelunga. Main sher ki tarah khelunga” - RCB player reveals Virat Kohli’s words

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) player Swastik Chikara has revealed the talismanic batter Virat Kohli’s words during the recently concluded IPL 2025 season as the franchise lifted the title for the first time in 18 years.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with RevSportz, Chikara has revealed his conversation with Kohli when the star Indian batter disclosed that as long as he was fit enough to meet the demands of T20 cricket, he would never play as an impact player.

"Virat bhaiya said, 'Jab tak cricket khelunga, jab tak main poora fit hoon. Ye Impact Player ki tarah nahi khelunga. Main sher ki tarah khelunga (I will play cricket for as long as I am completely fit. I won't play as an Impact Player. I will play like a lion)," Swastik told RevSportz.

"'I will field for the full 20 overs and then bat. The day I have to play as an Impact Player, I will quit cricket’," he revealed Kohli’s words.

After RCB won the IPL 2025 season, Kohli himself revealed in the post-match presentation ceremony that he can’t play the T20 format as an impact player, as he wants to feel 20 overs and make an impact on the field.

"I can't play as an impact player; I want to feel 20 overs and make an impact in the field. That's the kind of player I have been. And God's blessed me with that perspective, with the talent. And then you find different ways to help the team," Kohli had told after RCB’s title win.

Kohli ended the IPL 2025 campaign as the third-leading run-scorer, accumulating 657 runs from 15 innings at an average of 54.75 and a strike rate of 144.71 with eight half-centuries, while his best score was an unbeaten 73-run knock.

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