Being an Olympic champion will be magnificent, and IPL has a role: Virat Kohli on cricket in LA 2028

Bengaluru: Ace batter Virat Kohli was thrilled by the inclusion of cricket in Los Angeles Olympics 2028, and said the Indian Premier League has played a massive role in giving the sport a place in the global sporting extravaganza.

Cricket will return to the hallowed arena of Olympics for the first time since the 1900 Games in Paris.

"To be Olympic champion would be an absolutely magnificent feeling. The IPL has definitely played a massive role in that as well. Now, it has gotten us to a stage where it's part of the Olympics. It's a great opportunity for some of our guys," Kohli said in the RCB Innovation Lab talk show here on Saturday, moderated by former England cricketer Isa Guha.

"The athletes will be able to taste it. First of its kind. And I'm sure we'll be somewhere close to that medal. Both men and women play side by side as well," he added.

By 2028, it is unlikely that Kohli, by then around 40, would be playing the game but he gave a thought of playing in the Olympics, but only in jest.

"For the Olympics, I don't know, maybe, if we are playing for the gold medal. I just might sneak in for one game, get a medal and come back home. But I think it's a great thing for the sport, overall," Kohli said amidst peels of laughter.

Kohli also said the Women's Premier League has brought in a remarkable transformation in the women's cricket landscape in the country.

"Oh yeah, the perception has changed massively. I think all the other sports have had individuals coming up and doing amazing things.

"And they've been appreciated all over the nation because of their achievements.

"But I think what the Indian women's cricket team has done over the last few years, they are the ones who were the catalyst to kind of put the attention onto them," he said.

Kohli said the success of WPL has also increased the standards of women's cricket in the country.

"I literally saw it happening in a time span of 6-7 years. The way they started playing. You could see that belief and then people started engaging in that a lot more. And the standard of the games as well. It just feels like 2-3 levels higher than what it used to be.

"Just the power hitting, just the skill levels and everything. This is what happens. You take a sport or even a part of a sport to that level of competition. In two seasons you see a completely different women's game today. It's going to keep growing because you can't just cater to looking at men," he said.

'Tendency to go overboard'

Kohli conceded that he has gone a bit "overboard" with his emotional on-field reactions.

"I do have tendencies to kind of go overboard. I've never shied away from that. For a lot of people, it might not have been something that they're able to process. But for me, it always comes from the right place.

"My competitiveness has not gone down. You can still be aggressive in your mind, but you don't necessarily need to express it out there every now and then out of frustration, which I have."

Kohli, however, said he could have shown more restraint on some of those occasions.

"I mean, in the recent past as well, which is not a great thing, to be honest, I don't feel great about those things myself. You may think that there's some people who criticise you for that. But actually, I think there's a fair few more people who actually enjoy watching you do that," he added.