Having missed out on getting selected in the national team for Sri Lanka over the years due to fitness issues, Sri Lanka’s highly-rated wicket-keeper batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa is looking forward to making use of his performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 to showcase his talent as well as take some fitness lessons from some of the best in the business.

The 30-year-old Rajapaksa, who is plying his trade for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the ongoing IPL 2022, said he is looking forward to catching up with India’s stalwart Virat Kohli, whom he reckons is the “Cristiano Ronaldo of cricket”. Rajapaksa heaped praise on the former RCB skipper, saying he has always admired Kohli’s work ethic.

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During a recent chat with the Press Trust of India, Bhanuka Rajapaksa said, “IPL is the best league in the world and with every teammate of yours you get to learn a lot about the game, so I am loving picking the brains of Shikhar Dhawan. I get along very well with Mayank Agarwal as we played U-19 together. Outside of the team, Virat Kohli is always someone I could speak to and get some advice on fitness.”

He further added, “He’s at another different level when it comes to fitness. To me, he is the Cristiano Ronaldo of cricket for sure. With the work he puts in you can obviously see the results. You can compare him to anyone when it comes to fitness or even skills-wise. He plays so hard and you can learn a lot by talking to him.”

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Bhanuka Rajapaksa decided to announce his retirement from international retirement earlier this year and withdrew a week later on the insistence of authorities of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). However, he still did not get a chance to play against India last month due to the same fitness issues.

Rajapaksa made an early impression as he hit a match-winning 44 against RCB, helping PBKS chase down 206 in just 19 overs.