Virat Kohli revealed that he was scared before Royal Challengers Bangalore’s first training session in the UAE as the cricketers returned to the field after five-month coronavirus-enforced hiatus.

“Much better than expected, to be honest, I was pretty scared, haven’t picked up a bat in the last five months but yeah, it just came out better than I expected,” Kohli was quoted as saying in a video posted on RCB’s Twitter handle.

“I have trained quite a bit during the lockdown so I am feeling quite fit and that helps as you can react better. That’s a big plus if you come heavier into the season so the body is not in the right shape and that starts playing in your mind,” Kohli added.

The RCB captain was particularly pleased with the effort of his spinners during the session.

“The spinners looked pretty good in day one, Shahbaz Nadeem, Washington Sundar were landing the ball in the right areas, Chahal bowled well too, the seamers went through the motions little bit today, all in well decent start to our camp,” he said.

The 13th edition of the IPL will get underway on September 19 in the UAE as RCB will look to end their wait for their first title.

There have been a few concerns after BCCI confirmed that 13 personnel had tested positive after landing in the UAE, two of which were players. The development had led to BCCI putting the tournament schedule on hold.

According to a PTI report, multiple members of the Chennai Super Kings franchise had tested positive with two players also being reported to have contracted the virus.

The BCCI though believes that the IPL will go ahead as planned despite 13 members testing positive for Covid-19.